E  185.6  . M3 9  1919 
Mayers,  Richard. 

God’s  dealings  with  the 
Negro 

L  &I&7 


GOD’S  DEALINGS  WITH 

V  > 

THE  NEGRO 


NOV  4  1919 


A 


’&0PMI 


BY 

R.  MAYERS,  A.M.,  S.T.D. 


BOSTON 

RICHARD  G.  BADGER 


THE  GORHAM  PRESS 


Copyright,  1919,  by  R.  Mayers 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Made  in  the  United  States  of  America 


The  Gorham  Press,  Boston,  U.  S.  A. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 
V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 
IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 
XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 


The  Scriptures  vs.  Lynching 
The  Rise  of  Negroes  . 

The  Old  Rut  .... 
The  New  Rut  .... 
“Who’s  Who”  .... 

A  Record  of  Freedom 
The  Labor  Market 

Emigration . 

Treatment  of  the  Negro  No 

Voting . 

History  of  Negro  Freedom 
The  Outlook  for  Peace 
Western  Journeying  . 
Prejudice  at  Work  .  . 

The  Newspaper  Press  . 
Spectres  Before  the  Eyes 
The  Outlook  .... 
The  Church  . 


RTH 


PAGE 

7 

14 

19 

26 

31 

32 
37 
42 
46 

54 

59 

64 

99 

107 

hi 

118 

126 

131 


3 


GOD’S  DEALINGS  WITH 
THE  NEGRO 


t 


GOD’S  DEALINGS  WITH 
THE  NEGRO 


CHAPTER  I 


THE  SCRIPTURES  VS.  LYNCHING 
E  are  confronted  with  necessity  for  some¬ 


thing  more  than  mere  newspaper  articles 


against  lynching  of  Negroes  in  the  South.  We  need 
to  shew  that  God  plainly  defended  Moses,  his 
prophet  when  a  sister  of  his  attacked  him  for 
marrying  an  Ethiopian  woman.  This  account  is  to 
be  found  in  Numbers  xii.  1-15 ;  and  opens  thus: 
“And  Miriam  and  Aaron  spake  against  Moses,  be¬ 
cause  of  the  Ethiopian  woman  whom  he  had  mar¬ 
ried  :  for  he  had  married  an  Ethiopian  woman.  And 
the  Lord  spake  suddenly  unto  Moses  and  unto 
Aaron,  and  unto  Miriam,  Come  out  ye  three  unto 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation.  And  they  three 
came  out.  .  .  .  And  he  said,  Hear  now  my  words : 
If  there  be  a  prophet  among  you,  I,  the  Lord,  will 


make  myself  known  to  him  in  a  vision,  and  will 


speak  to  him  in  a  dream.  My  servant  Moses  is  not 


7 


8 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


so;  .  .  .  with  him  will  I  speak  mouth  to  mouth 
.  .  .  and  not  in  dark  speeches.  Wherefore,  then, 
were  ye  not  afraid  to  speak  against  my  servant 
Moses?  .  .  .  And  behold  Miriam  became  leprous, 
as  white  as  snow.” 

This  passage  establishes  that  God,  who  made 
black  people,  defended  them  by  punishing  a  dis¬ 
tinguished  woman,  a  sister  of  the  greatest  Lawgiver. 
And  as  the  Bible  has  been  much  quoted  by  Negro 
haters  in  other  instances,  it  ought  to  be  remembered 
in  this  case. 

Not  many  weeks  ago,  Anthony  Crawford,  a  man, 
a  Negro,  owning  property  valued  at  $20,000,  was 
taken,  abused,  and  lynched  in  broad  daylight,  by  a 
distinguished  set  of  men,  who  publicly  declared  their 
“hatred  of  the  successful  Negro.”  And  this  was 
done  by  the  certainty  of  not  being  punished.  The 
conclusion  is,  therefore,  forced  upon  me,  that  de¬ 
fiance  of  God,  and  injustice  to  men,  is  gone  mad 
here. 

What  guarantee,  then,  have  you  to  offer  that  the 
diligent  Negro  will  be  protected?  Or  what  reason 
can  be  advanced  that  he  must  not  protect  himself? 

We  are  told  that  he  must  obey  the  law.  What 
law? 

Surely  the  laws  of  the  country  which  are  not  en¬ 
forced  by  the  presiding  authorities  cannot  be  sue- 


The  Scriptures  vs.  Lynching 


9 


cessfully  kept  by  the  unprotected.  In  order  to  have 
obedience,  the  Negroes  must  have  protection.  And 
in  numbers  of  cases,  when  men’s  souls  have  been 
touched,  they  have  acknowledged  that  as  officers 
they  have  given  over  the  Negro  to  his  persecutors, 
and  have  even  aided  the  murderers.  This  is  done 
because  no  punishment  is  feared. 

To  excuse  these  brutalities,  a  man  on  the  Mis¬ 
sissippi  boat  said  that  the  said  Moses  had  declared 
that  Noah,  an  inebriate,  had  said,  “Cursed  be 
Canaan,  a  servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  unto  his 
brethren.”  He  said,  moreover,  that  Canaan  was  an 
ancestor  of  the  Negro,  and  that  therefore  the 
Negro  was  cursed.  To  this  it  maybe  answered 
that  the  Canaanites  were  destroyed  during  7  years  by 
Joshua,  in  an  internecine  war;  that  the  Canaanites 
were  whites,  but  that  the  Negroes  are  colored;  and 
that  this  pre-defence  of  an  Ethiopian  woman  by 
God  settles  the  question. 

But  all  races  of  men,  as  all  sorts  of  animals,  are 
put  by  God  to  live  in  this  world.  Has  God  said 
since  then  that  Negroes  must  be  lynched?  Not 
in  any  part  of  history.  Black  people  were  known 
in  Solomon’s  time,  and  that  potentate  unquestion¬ 
ably  married  an  African  princess.  And  special  ex¬ 
ceptions  as  to  immigrants  are  being  made  to-day 
by  the  congress  of  the  United  States.  The  law 


IO 


God’s  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


then,  now  as  well  as  before,  protects  the  Negro. 
But  it  left  him  to  the  mercy  of  the  white  citizen 
who  pleased  to  lynch  him.  But  I  was  in  contact 
this  week  with  an  Englishman  who  asked  why  the 
Negro  would  not  leave  the  old  rut.  I  replied,  that 
he  was  at  the  mercy  of  former  lords,  each  of  whom 
was  a  god.  “I  had  not  thought  of  that,”  he  said. 
When  the  man-slave  was  receiving  a  whipping  and 
he  cried,  “O  God!  oh,”  the  master  said,  “Give  it 
to  him.”  But  when  the  victim  said,  “Do,  massa! 
do!”  the  master  said,  “Stop!”  The  master  after¬ 
wards  received  the  due  reward  of  his  deeds. 

The  whole  matter  was  a  disgrace  to  civilization, 
and  civilization  repudiated  it  by  war  and  victory 
in  1865. 

One  prominent  feature  in  the  Abbeville  lynch¬ 
ing  is  the  assertion  that  Crawford  resented  his 
treatment,  and  struck  the  assailant,  for  which  and 
other  offences,  he  was  lynched.  But  there  are 
numerous  examples  in  which  providence  either  al¬ 
lowed  or  ordered  the  defence  of  his  creatures.  I 
shall  quote  the  authority  of  the  same  Moses,  who 
allowed  a  man  to  be  killed  in  self-defence.  Craw¬ 
ford  tried  to  do  this.  Words  are  wind;  blows  are 
unkind.  Crawford  resented  the  blows,  and,  had 
the  rock  which  struck  him  on  the  head  not  disabled 
him,  he  would  have  done  more. 


The  Scriptures  vs.  Lynching 


II 


Again:  Joshua  was  ordered  to  remove  Achan  and 
his  family  from  among  the  children  of  Israel.  And 
the  Governor  of  South  Carolina  has  ordered,  ac¬ 
cording  to  accounts,  the  punishment  of  the  lynchers. 
Joshua  obeyed;  we  shall  see  the  results  in  this 
later  case. 

Now  there  are  Negroes  in  Africa  who  are  well- 
treated  by  the  English,  French,  Portuguese,  and 
others.  They  are  employed  in  every  honorable 
office.  And  there  are  American  missionary  so¬ 
cieties  which  do  all  they  can  to  evangelize  the 
African.  But  many  people  here  oppress  his  race. 

I  have  a  book  entitled,  “Black  Sheep,”  written 
by  a  dear  lady  missionary  in  which  she  shews  that 
the  women,  called  Negresses  by  certain  people  here, 
ask  the  most  intelligent  questions  about  the  reason 
of  things.  What  reason  can  she  advance  for  the 
lynching  in  Abbeville?  If  history  repeats  itself, 
these  lynchers  will  be  punished  by  God.  The  peo¬ 
ple  of  Nineveh  were  no  more  cruel.  They  received 
a  terrible  punishment,  and  their  city  is  no  more. 

We  cannot  see  God,  but  we  can  feel  justice  and 
punishment.  I  wonder  if  the  Negro  has  done  some 
terrible  thing  as  the  cause  of  his  extreme  punish¬ 
ment  here.  It  cannot  be  color  that  causes  this,  for 
the  lynchers  love  colored  horses,  dogs,  and  cats. 
If  it  is  providence,  an  unusual  punishment,  even 


12 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


for  savages,  is  given  him.  And  unquestionably  the 
time  must  come  when  retribution  follows. 

The  proposed  legislation,  which  is  announced  in 
favor  of  the  Negro,  is  prompted  by  providence  if 
the  persecutions  are  allowed  by  him.  For  he  asks: 
Shall  there  be  evil  in  the  city  and  the  Lord  hath 
not  done  it?  The  lynchers,  then,  are  working  out 
their  destiny.  The  general  answer  of  the  Negro 
to  all  this  oppression  is,  “I  leave  it  all  to  the  Lord”; 
and  the  Lord  who  works  that  white  foreigners 
should  be  called  home  to  Europe,  has  made  the 
Negro  necessary  in  the  north.  But  that  only  exposes 
the  few  who  may  be  left  to  infernal  smoke  on  the 
cars,  and  the  market-place,  and  injustice  in  the 
courts. 

As  I  said  at  the  beginning  of  this  article,  mere 
writing  in  the  newspapers  against  lynching  is  a 
waste  of  time  and  paper.  Laws  must  be  enforced, 
and  his  bad  ones,  if  there  be  any,  must  feel  the 
effect  of  the  gospel  or  the  law. 

Lynchings  like  the  one  at  Abbeville  may  com¬ 
pel  action;  and,  to  this  extent,  they  serve  a  useful 
purpose.  But  slavery  is  exceeded  now,  for  the  slave 
was  protected,  and  the  Negro  is  not. 

His  providential  increase  in  this  country  is  no 
argument  that  God  blesses  him ;  for  other  races, 
as  the  Jews,  have  increased,  only  to  be  oppressed. 


The  Scriptures  vs.  Lynching 


13 


Protection,  then,  must  be  had  for  the  Negro.  The 
very  breaking  down  of  law  is  a  warning  for  the 
enforcement  of  law.  But  the  Negroes  must  leave 
the  old  rut.  They  must  be  educated,  pure,  and 
determined.  They  must  go  elsewhere.  The  glori¬ 
ous  Abraham  Lincoln,  had  he  lived,  would  doubtless 
have  found  some  means  of  colonization  which  would 
have  relieved  congestion  of  population,  and  have 
given  the  race  a  state  to  start  in  elsewhere.  They 
have  had  to  leave,  and  are  leaving.  But  all  can¬ 
not  leave:  those  who  stay  must  be  protected. 

God’s  dealings  with  Nehemiah  must  be  taken  as 
an  example  of  His  dealings  with  the  Negro;  and 
time  will  shew  the  rest. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  RISE  OF  NEGROES 

IF  the  Dutch  who  landed  slaves  of  African 
descent  in  America  had  lived  to  see  the  anguish 
caused  to  their  race  in  America  what  would  they 
have  said? 

For  there  has  always  been  a  Negro  who  shewed 
ability,  or  learning,  or  faithfulness  to  the  master; 
and  the  prayers  of  these  Negroes  doubtless  led 
men  to  view  slavery  with  abhorrence.  Four  years 
of  bloodshed  followed,  and  1,000,000  lives  were 
spent  before  freedom  came.  This  is  providence,  or 
God  in  working.  For  a  settlement  of  injustice  is 
necessary.  If  God  delights  in  prayers,  he  delighted 
to  hear  the  cries  of  distress.  He  sent  an  emanci¬ 
pator.  He  raised  up  friends  for  the  formation 
of  a  bureau.  He  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  men  to 
admit  to  learning  men  forbidden  to  learn.  He 
enabled  the  ex-slave  to  buy  the  estate  of  his  former 
master.  He  shewed  that  the  slave  and  the  ex-slave 
could  learn  anything.  He  made  a  prejudice  a  help 
by  giving  principals  who  prepared  teachers  for  the 
afflicted  race.  He  raised  up  a  man,  Booker  Wash¬ 
ington,  after  Gen.  O.  O.  Howard  to  shew  that  the 

14 


The  Rise  of  Negroes 


15 


Negro  is  a  necessary  factor  in  the  American  body 
politic.  And  he  stirred  faithfulness  in  the  heart  of 
the  Negro  to  prevent  him  from  rebelling  as  a  race 
against  oppression  anxious  to  oppress  unopposed. 

This  was  charged  against  the  Negro  as  cowardice. 
But  in  fighting  for  the  Union  the  Negro  shewed  the 
utmost  bravery.  He  was  said  to  be  incapable  of 
leadership,  but  he  produced  at  least  one  political 
leader,  one  educational  leader,  and  one  classical 
Greek  text  book  writer. 

Nor  was  he  less  eminent  in  war.  Colonels,  and 
majors,  and  captains  rose  by  merit;  and  whole  regi¬ 
ments  conquered  at  times.  As  God  raised  up  the 
Maccabees,  so  he  raised  up  champions  of  justice  for 
Negroes;  and  there  is  actually  defence  of  arriving 
Negroes  even  in  a  congress  of  the  United  States. 

And  since  hardly  any  one  will  write  in  praise  of 
the  Negroes,  providence  raised  up  American  officers 
who  plainly  spoke  and  wrote  of  their  prowess.  It 
was  left  to  Illinois  to  set  a  sum  of  money  apart  to 
help  a  commission  tell  about  the  useful  “Who’s 
Who”  of  the  race.  It  was  possible  to  get  Virginia 
where  slaves  toiled,  to  commemorate  the  Negro’s 
achievements  after  50  years. 

But  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  progress  was 
made  in  the  two  African  churches  of  Methodism. 
That  men  should  have  been  found  capable  of  be- 


i6 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


ginning  and  continuing  two  church  agencies  like 
the  Bethel  and  Zion  persuasions  is  remarkable.  Nor 
is  it  less  so  to  see  their  church  buildings,  their 
book  concerns,  or  the  dignity  and  value  of  their 
officials.  Much  more  might  be  said  on  this  subject, 

but  I  forbear. 

In  the  field  of  business,  which  is  necessary  to  any 
oppressed  and  despised  race,  in  order  that  it  may 
be  protected  in  buying  and  selling,  the  Negro  banks, 
the  business  houses  of  the  South,  and  the  manu¬ 
facturing  plants  connected  with  them  are  worthy 

of  notice. 

In  Philadelphia,  Penn.,  it  was  fouild  that  only 
one  or  two  means  of  livelihood  were  open  to  colored 
women;  Drs.  Credit  and  Anderson  began  much 
needed  manufacturing.  So  in  North  Carolina, 
where  cotton  mills  discouraged  the  entrance  of 
colored  people. 

I  deprecate  any  separation — any  Jim-crowism  of 
the  races;  and  these  separate  factories  should  be 
discouraged ;  but  where  no  other  way  is  to  be  found 
they  shew  original  ability  at  least,  and  are  being 
increased. 

Nor  was  there  any  field  of  endeavor  besides  in 
which  the  workers  of  this  race  did  not  distinguish 
themselves ;  for  they  became  famous  as  cotton-raisers, 
fruit-raisers,  potato  kings,  miners,  builders,  and 


The  Rise  of  Negroes 


17 


jockeys;  to  say  nothing  of  preachers,  eminent  for 
their  fervor  and  scholarship.  And  this  preaching 
has  kept  the  race, — kept  as  it  is  in  the  main  from 
white  churches — peaceful  and  orderly.  For  where 
they  are  not  so,  we  may  trace  their  behavior  to 
absence  from  church,  and  bad  company. 

Every  other  people  have  rebelled  en  masse ;  the 
Negro  in  America  has  stood  by  his  master  and  op¬ 
pressor.  He  is  brought  unjustly  as  a  lamb  to  the 
slaughter,  unavenged.  God,  then,  must  avenge  him. 

I  cannot  close  this  chapter  without  recording  an 
incident  told  to  me  by  an  aged  and  worthy  lady, 
the  widow  of  a  lawyer  who,  having  inherited  much 
of  her  master’s  blood,  acquired  also  much  of  his 
good  breeding. 

She  was  born  in  Western  Virginia  and  early  ac¬ 
customed  to  see  the  lash  applied,  to  the  young 
womanhood,  ruined,  and  the  young  master  de¬ 
fended  afterwards.  Sent  west  early  in  the  war,  she 

settled  at  N - and  married  there,  acquiring  much 

property.  Adverse  circumstances  following,  she  had 
only  one  house  remaining  by  which  she  makes  a 
living.  She  has  been  instrumental  in  founding  a 
church,  and  in  assisting  to  raise  up  lodges. 

Of  an  unsullied  character,  she  is  easily  able  to 
command  respect.  The  pitfalls  of  noisy  Christians 
seem  to  be  unknown  to  her.  The  mind  is  calm  and 


1 8  God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 

even.  The  habit  is  full  and  well  proportioned. 
And  her  speech  is  grammatically  so  correct  as  to 
surprise  one  that  her  education  is  almost  nil. 

Many  such  specimens  could  be  found.  The  de¬ 
spised,  demoralized  Negro  can  become  as  highly  cul¬ 
tured  and  as  thoroughly  religious  as  any. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  OLD  RUT 

IN  spite  of  the  saying  that  America  is  progres¬ 
sive  the  Southern  Negro  has  had  to  remain  in 
the  old  rut.  He  yet  picks  cotton  in  October,  No¬ 
vember,  and  sometimes,  even  in  December,  bales 
it,  sells  it,  gets  killed  for  it,  either  by  actual  blows, 
or  burning,  or  by  a  slow  starvation,  and  wasting  of 
his  energies. 

The  field  is  often  subject  to  swamps,  or  to  dry¬ 
ness  when,  on  the  hillside,  rain  in  June  and  July 
does  not  come.  The  land  is  often  subject  to  washes; 
that  is,  rain  carrying  away  the  dirt  in  large  quanti¬ 
ties.  The  master  too  often  leases  the  land  or  al¬ 
lows  the  planter  to  plant  without  giving  any  help 
by  way  of  preserving  or  enriching  the  soil.  The 
bread  and  meat — a  piece  of  fried  bacon,  is  often  yet 
almost  all  that  is  eaten,  unless  in  November,  he  feels 
what  the  Australian  calls  “a  craving  base  for  pork 
or  ham,”  and  kills  his  hogs,  and  “renders”  his 
lard  and  eats,  and  eats  till  all  is  gone.  He  has 
borrowed  $100,  it  may  be,  to  carry  him  through 
the  winter;  and  he  has  bought  harness  worth  $14 
for  $28  “being  its  you,  Uncle  Ned;”  and  now  he 

19 


20 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


must  pay  up  these  and  other  debts,  and  if  anything 
is  left,  he  is  offered  something  which  the  store¬ 
keeper  is  sure  will  be  “just  the  thing  for  him,’ 
and  he  probably  buys.  He  pays  his  preacher  the 
$13  salary  he  promised  him,  buys  a  new  pair  of 
shoes  for  his  child  kept  from  Sabbath  school,  a  new 
suit  for  himself,  some  clothing  for  his  wife,  and 
then  puts  the  remaining  money,  if  any,  into  some 
hiding  place.  He  does  not  believe  in  banks,  be¬ 
cause  he  remembers  that  “Marse  John  lost  all  he 
had  one  time  in  one  o’  them  banks;”  and  he  is  sure 
that  he  can  keep  his  money  best.  For  safety’s  sake, 
therefore,  he  asks  Miss  Betsey  to  keep  it  for  him 
in  Marse  John’s  safe,  and  there  it  is  deposited,  and 
safely  kept.  For  Miss  Betsey  knew  him  when  he 
was  a  boy,  and  is  kind  to  her  Negroes  and  will  do 
anything  for  him  as  a  Negro. 

During  the  winter  he  may  cut  logs  or  clear  some 
more  land:  for  Marse  John  said  he  could.  He 
burns  what  is  left  from  the  timber,  which  he  has 
stacked  up,  or  hauled  away,  and  plows  with  the 
old  mule  Betty  around  the  stumps,  and  thus  pre¬ 
pares  the  land  for  next  year’s  cotton.  Or  he  goes 
to  help  on  the  railroad  in  order  to  get  some  “cash 
money” ;  or  hauls  “light  ’ood”  to  town  to  sell.  When 
spring  begins  he  is  very  active.  He  plows  for 
April  and  begins  to  plant  in  May,  the  dearly-loved 


The  Old  Rut 


21 


cotton.  Nor  does  he  forget  the  water  melon,  and 
the  onion,  and  the  sugar  cane;  for  he  must  have 
some  molasses  which  does  in  place  of  butter  for 
the  children.  A  rabbit  or  so  is  often  chased  by  the 
dogs,  and  the  little  boys  have  got  him.  This  makes 
a  very  pleasant  and  wholesome  change  from  the 
fat  bacon  or  fatter  fresh  meat. 

His  children  and  his  neighbor’s  children  are 
healthy  and  happy;  for  they  go  to  bed  and  wake 
early.  The  church  is  their  trysting  place,  and 
the  church  is  well  attended.  And  at  protracted 
meeting,  ’most  everybody  goes,  because  Sam  and 
William  will  meet  Sarah  and  Rachel  and  be  able 
to  walk  home  with  them. 

The  farm  house,  in  this  case,  is  near  the  road,  and 
they  always  see  the  mail  man  when  he  is  passing; 
and  it  even  happens  sometimes  that  he  brings  a  let¬ 
ter  from  Lawrence  who  ran  away  from  these  healthy 
parts  to  seek  a  living,  and  see  the  world  in  one  o’ 
them  northern  towns. 

If  Mary  and  Sally  continue  to  learn  as  they  are 
doing  they  may  some  day  become  school  teachers 
like  Miss  Malinda  Jones,  and  earn  5  months’  salary 
at  25  dollars  a  month;  which  is  cash  money. 

The  young  swains  like  Miss  Malinda,  and  if 
mother  will  invite  her  to  their  house  for  dinner, 
or  supper,  maybe  they  will  have  the  shy  pleasure 


22 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


of  going  home  with  her  as  escorts  to  her  boarding 
place. 

The  old  turkey  gobbler  was  killed  last  year  by 
master’s  dog;  and  daddy  was  so  “skeared”  lest 
young  Mas’r  William  should  get  mad  ’cause  he 
might  not  like  it,  that  daddy  hollered  out  to  young 
mas’r  long  before  he  got  near  him, 

“How  you  do  Marse  Tom?” 

To  which  Marse  Tom  gruffly  replied: 

“H’  dee,  John.” 

There  is  a  hot  supper  at  a  corn  shooking  over 
the  hill,  and  Sally  and  Mary  and  a  host  of  them  are 
asked  to  go  “  ’cause  Nanny  Bates  and  her  brothers 
will  be  there;  for  Miss  Bates  aint  goin’  let  Sally 
and  Mary  go  out  alone;  and  they  will  have  a  chance 
in  that  way  to  see  those  youngsters.  All  the  other 
young  uns  are  at  home  in  bed ;  and  daddy  is  so  tired 
from  logging  that  he  goes  to  bed  right  early.” 

Such  is  the  old  rut.  Fear  of  Master  and  Mistress 
has  permeated  the  mind  of  every  Negro.  The 
business  of  each  is  to  watch  the  other  Negroes  and 
tell  anything  unusual  that  he  hears.  The  Negro 
is  feared.  The  continued  insults  offered  him  will 
result  some  day  in  revenge,  it  is  feared.  The  plan 
is  to  scare,  intimidate,  divide,  and  conquer.  Now 
and  then  a  Negro  is  strung  up,  in  order  to  warn 
the  others  to  behave  themselves. 


The  Old  Rut 


23 


Why  does  God  allow  this?  The  Negro  was 
forced  away  from  his  home  in  Africa,  put  to  serve, 
to  become  a  footpad,  a  pet,  or  anything,  and  then  to 
multiply  and  fill  the  earth  in  order  that  the  planta¬ 
tion  might  have  enough.  If  he  was  humble  he  was 
worked;  if  he  was  troublesome  he  was  sold  farther 
south.  In  spite  of  untoward  surroundings  the 
children  were  sometimes  handsome,  and  became 
housekeepers.  They  learned  the  masters’  manners 
and  became  civilized.  But  they  did  not  get  pro¬ 
tection  after  freedom  came.  Any  man  who  wanted 
the  freedom  of  the  ballot  might  be  shot  while  rid¬ 
ing,  or  butchered  when  sleeping.  The  Negro  who 
distrusted  banks,  and  kept  his  money  at  home,  might 
find  the  money  an  attractive  power  to  draw  the 
violent  to  his  house.  If  he  had  also  fair  wife  or 
daughters  these  too  might  be  drawing  powers;  and 
when  the  violence  was  disclosed  next  morning,  and 
justice  was  ordered,  men  said, — “Making  such  a  fuss 
about  Negroes!”  The  Negroes,  therefore,  con¬ 
tinued  in  the  old  rut.  And  while  the  old  mammies 
nursed  the  children,  and  prayed  to  God  from  their 
hearts  for  freedom,  the  young  girls  toiled  in  the 
cotton  patch,  thought  of  love,  and  became  accus¬ 
tomed  to  thoughtless  living.  There  was  no  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  commandments,  and  they  needed  not  to 
obey  them,  for  they  were  bought  and  sold,  and 


24 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


could  have  no  families.  Morality  had  to  be  low, 
or  nothing. 

If  perchance  the  plantation  had  a  preacher,  that 
worthy  discoursed  of  what  he  understood  to  be  safe 
to  speak  of — that  there  was  a  being  called  God  who 
lived  somewhere:  that  he  watched  Niggers:  that 
he  aided  whites:  that  he  had  a  Son  named  Jesus 
Christ  who  died  for  people: — whether  for  Niggers, 
doubtful;  that  you  might  follow  Marse  Tom  to 
heaven  if  you  were  good ;  that  there  was  a  de¬ 
lightful  place  called  heaven,  so  warm,  and  sweet, 
and  comfortable;  that  there  was  a  place  called  hell, 
so  cold,  and  icy,  and  dark  and  dismal!  and  that  if 
you  Niggers  “don’t  behave  you’self  you’ll  sho’  go 
dere.” 

The  old  ones  rocked  to  and  fro,  and  groaned  sig¬ 
nificantly;  the  young  ones  stood  in  awe;  for  were 
not  Mas’r  and  Misses  there  to  back  all  this  up? 
The  women  had  one  sacred  duty — to  bear  children ; 
the  men  one  compelling  one ; — to  work  and  obey. 

The  old  preacher  sometimes  married  couples.  He 
had  seen  his  white  master  do  so.  He  put  the 
couples  together  for  better  or  for  worse  till  Mas¬ 
ter  parted  them.  When  so  parted  the  woman  ex¬ 
claimed — “My  heart’s  broke;  that’s  all.”  The 
little  picaninnies  looked  on  in  wonder.  They  saw 
daddy  handcuffed  and  dragged  away,  while  mammy 

wiped  her  eyes  with  her  apron,  and  they  wondered 


The  Old  Rut 


25 


what  it  all  meant.  Would  they  get  supper — “corn- 
poan,  and  ’lassis” — that  night?  or  would  mammy 
go  too?  If  only  mammy  would  stay?  She 
stayed,  and  the  boys  were  content.  They  knew 
not  what  slavery  meant. 

But  freedom  came,  and  scattered  them.  Related, 
one  could  hardly  tell  how,  they  sought  brother 
and  sister,  and  found  them  not.  They  cried  to 
God.  They  wailed  out  their  sorrows  in  song.  The 
manly  voices  could  be  heard  afar  over  the  cotton 
fields.  The  labor  of  the  wash  tub  was  lightened 
with  spirituals:  “Eble  body  say  he  gwine  to  heaven 
aint  gwine  there,”  such  was  her  song;  and  the 
watchers  commended  her  for  her  cheerfulness;  but 
her  heart  was  rent,  as  she  saw  child  and  friend 
leaving  her.  This  was  God’s  dealing  with  the 
Negro.  For  the  present,  worse  than  Egyptian 
bondage  harassed  her.  The  way  was  dark;  the 
heart  was  sad.  The  masters  looked  on — looked 
ahead.  Egyptian  bondage  had  ceased. 

Wilberforce,  Clarkson,  Sir  Thomas  Fowell  Bux¬ 
ton,  and  others  had  condemned  slavery.  Would 
freedom  come?  The  masters’  money  was  in  their 
slaves.  Would  they  lose  them?  Surely  things  must 
continue  in  the  old  rut,  or  the  masters  must  fight. 
For  tho’  Israel  might  be  a  slave,  his  children  were 
kept  in  Egypt,  and  died,  perchance,  with  him;  the 
Negro’s  own  were  scattered  everywhere. 


CHAPTER  IV 


A  NEW  RUT 

WHEN  Lincoln  freed  the  slaves  a  new  rut 
was  made  possible.  But  in  order  thereto, 
protection  was  necessary  to  the  newly  emancipated 
slaves.  This  was  not  perfect,  tho’  attempted  by 
Grant.  For  it  is  useless  to  tell  a  man  he  is  free 
when  he  is  being  shot  at  from  ambush.  And  the 
Negro  men  who  aspired  to  be  leaders  were  shot  at 
everywhere  nearly.  Many  were  killed  publicly. 
Many  were  so  intimidated  as  to  leave  for  other 
parts. 

All  found  their  color  a  handicap;  till  one  who 
had  hewn  a  way  upon  being  asked  if  he  was  a 
Negro  is  said  to  have  replied,  “Any  one  can  see 
by  the  color  of  my  skin,  and  the  texture  of  my 
hair  that  I  am  not  a  Negro.” 

But  he  had  hewn  well  a  new  way;  a  way  to 
learning  and  place,  and  salary.  Others  followed; 
and  soon  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages  were 
known  and  taught  by  them.  And  the  place  of  type¬ 
writer,  electrician,  and  captain  was  attained  by 
others  more  venturesome. 

26 


A  New  Rut 


27 


Yet  as  a  fly  becomes  accustomed  to  being  hit  at, 
as  a  dog  becomes  used  to  insult,  and  as  a  man  be¬ 
comes  used  to  ill-treatment,  so  men  hitherto  exposed 
to  blows  expected  and  feared  them.  They  soon 
learned  to  speak  as  warned.  They  adapted  them¬ 
selves  to  circumstances  like  Issachar,  whom  Jacob 
calls  a  strong  ass  crouching  down  between  two 
burdens,  and  who  saw  that  rest  was  good,  bowed 
his  neck  or  shoulders  to  bear,  and  became  servant 
unto  tribute.  Genesis  49. 

Such  was  the  condition  to  which  God  allowed 
the  Negro  to  fall  in  America.  Farther  south  he 
became  incorporated  into  the  body  politic;  farther 
north  he  was  just  like  anybody  else,  except  as  to 
trades. 

It  is  out  of  this  rut  that  he  is  striving,  tho’ 
without  protection.  And  the  fact  that  so  many 
as  1,000,000  have  come  out  into  open  manhood  and 
dare  to  assert  their  rights  to  human  treatment  is 
remarkable. 

Women,  hitherto  chattels,  are  continually  men¬ 
tioned  as  protecting  their  virtue  even  with  the 
pistol.  Men,  hitherto  cowards,  have  dared  to  re¬ 
main  in  their  houses  and  to  defend  themselves. 
Children  assert  their  school  rights,  and  parents 
refuse  to  have  them  separated  from  the  body  of 
the  school,  as  is  related  in  a  paper  before  me.  If 


28 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


equal  taxes  are  demanded,  equal  opportunity  is 
sought. 

Again :  the  public  declaration  related  by  a 
physician  last  November  in  this  city  of  a  certain 
number  of  men,  Sheriffs,  Judges,  and  others,  that 
they  decided  once  to  punish  any  Negro  brought  be¬ 
fore  them,  guilty  or  not  guilty,  but  had  now  deter¬ 
mined  to  decide  by  law,  reveals  a  new  rut.  From 
the  efforts  of  Dr.  Benjamin  F.  Riley,  of  Alabama, 
a  much  more  healthy  sentiment  of  justice  has  been 
preached  and  the  south  is  awaking  to  the  fact  that 
in  keeping  the  Negro  in  the  old  rut  it  injures  itself. 
Dr.  Riley,  without  bespeaking  equality,  asks  for 
justice.  He  has  been  greatly  discouraged,  impover¬ 
ished,  and  misrepresented,  but  here  at  Knoxville 
people  are  trying  to  continue  their  help  to  him. 

Men  in  Birmingham  are  being  asked  to  give 
their  opinions  on  the  Negro  problem.  In  Mont¬ 
gomery  the  sure  way  of  getting  recognition — the 
opening  of  Negro  industrial,  business,  and  scholastic 
places,  such  as,  making  hats,  dressing  hair,  and 
establishing  stores,  is  now  fully  acknowledged. 

No  man  can  keep  down  a  people  who  give  money 
and  business  value  to  the  public  at  a  time  when 
the  public  wants  them. 

But  there  are  yet  certain  trades  which  certain 
sections  attempt  to  deny  the  Negro.  The  position 


A  New  Rut 


29 


of  chauffeur  is  denied;  and  one  who  ran  an  auto 
endangered  his  life.  The  place  of  conductor  is 
restricted  to  whites  in  most  communities.  And 
tho’  an  effort  at  trade  with  South  America  where 
people  of  color  are  in  every  avenue  of  life,  is  being 
made  by  the  United  States;  yet  their  opportunity 
to  become  diplomats  is  denied  by  those  in  authority 
over  the  Negroes  here. 

Certain  men,  as  Lynch,  Douglass,  and  Durham, 
have  represented  this  country  in  Russia,  Hayti,  etc. 
I  am  not  aware  of  any  encouragement  being  given 
to  any  of  their  race.  But  neither  is  the  Negro  con¬ 
tent.  He  is  preparing  himself,  and  may  yet  have 
the  balance  of  power  in  this  country. 

In  land  ownership  he  is  discouraged.  A  man 
was  beaten,  another  was  shot  to  death  in  these  states 
for  daring  to  own  land  near  certain  whites;  yet  the 
Negro  was  accused  of  laziness  by  the  very 
murderers. 

The  migrations,  on  account  of  this  ill  treatment, 
are  towards  the  North  and  West,  and  jealous 
Negroes,  expecting  bad  behaviour,  are  preparing 
associations  of  safety.  Yet  the  Negro  moves  north¬ 
ward. 

But  even  here,  men  are  getting  into  grocery 
stores  as  salesmen;  into  the  police  force  as  officers 
and  detectives ;  and  into  the  law  courts  as  barristers. 


30 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


And  many  Negro  homes  would  be  a  credit  any¬ 
where.  There  are  some  in  which  not  a  fly  can  be 
seen  in  winter. 

Get  together  meetings  are  being  held  at  Chat¬ 
tanooga,  and  other  centers;  and  pleasant  greetings 
are  exchanged  at  Knoxville  and  other  places. 

For  it  is  impossible  to  read  the  Bible  carefully 
without  getting  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Son 
of  God,  which  is  the  spirit  of  union.  The  spirit 
of  disunion  and  brutality  is  better  shewn  in  Chapter 
VI. 


CHAPTER  V 


"who's  who" 

SO  important,  indeed,  is  the  Negro  that  a  book 
has  been  written  called  “Who’s  Who”  of  the 
Colored  Race,  and  it  was  published  under  the 
direction  of  a  bishop  and  a  Mr.  Mather,  in  Chicago, 
by  order  and  help  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  en¬ 
titled  Volume  I,  1915,  for  $7*5°  a  volume. 


31 


CHAPTER  VI 


A  RECORD  OF  FREEDOM 

LYNCHING  is  the  quickest  and  most  cowardly 
way  of  getting  rid  of  a  Negro.  If  one  man 
in  a  hundred  is  praised,  one  man  in  50  is  threatened 
or  lynched. 

But  this  is  done,  mind  you,  only  when  the  object 
is  helpless  and  the  mob  is  large  and  safe.  Hence, 
a  mob,  the  defier  of  the  law,  is  the  most  cowardly 
of  all  men.  But  it  does  not  appear  that  intimidation 
has  kept  the  Negroes  from  crimes  as  the  following 
article  will  shew: 

Public  Pusillanimity  is  Responsible  for  Mob 

Law 

The  story  of  Governor  Stanley,  of  Kentucky,  in 
hastening  to  Murray,  the  county  seat  of  Calloway, 
confronting  singly  and  alone  the  mob  that  had  over¬ 
awed  Judge  Bush,  “threatening  to  lynch  him,”  and 
frightened  him  into  signing  an  order  to  bring  back 
and  expedite  the  trial  of  a  Negro  indicted  for 
murder  under  the  menace  and  coercion  of  the  mob 
sentiment  prevailing  then  and  there  presents  at  once 
the  glory  and  the  shame  of  Kentucky.  The  Callo- 

32 


A  Record  of  Freedom 


33 


.  way  mob  not  only  overawed  Judge  Bush,  threaten¬ 
ing  to  lynch  him  and  the  commonwealth’s  attorney 
if  the  Negro,  Lube  Martin,  were  not  brought  back, 
but  muttered  threats  of  lynching  the  governor  him¬ 
self  when  he  made  his  unexpected  and  unwelcome 
appearance  among  them  and  pleaded  that  law  and 
order  be  allowed  to  take  their  course.  Knoxville 
Sentinel ,  Sat.,  Jan.  13,  1917. 

This  following  is  taken  from  the  Louisville 
Courier  Journal ,  which  recites  the  cause  of  the 
trouble,  and  then  adds :  uCould  the  contrast  between 
the  course  of  the  governor  in  this  emergency  and 
that  of  the  circuit  judge  be  more  impressive!  Judge 
Bush  himself  must  to-day  look  upon  Governor 
Stanley  s  decision  and  action  in  the  case  with  envious 
admiration,  rendered  all  the  more  acute  because  he 
must  realize  that  but  for  his  own  most  unfortunate 
infirmity  he  could  have  won  even  greater  admiration 
for  himself  instead  of  the  pity — and  worse — now 
universally  linked  with  his  name.” 

Lynching  is  peculiar  in  that  it  destroys  the  force 
of  the  laws  made  by  representatives  of  the  lynchers 
themselves. 

In  the  annals  of  fame,  certain  Hebrews  trampled 
on  a  man  at  the  gate  of  Samaria,  when  he  tried 
to  hinder  disorder.  Certain  people  destroyed  the 


34 


God’s  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


house  of  a  hated  Macedonian  with  all  his  family 
when  they  heard  that  his  king  had  had  him  as¬ 
sassinated.  Many  kings  and  nobles  with  presidents 
of  the  United  States  have  been  murdered: — the 
most  atrocious  cases  being  those  of  the  rulers  of 
unhappy  Serbia,  of  King  Charles,  of  Louis  the 
XVI,  and  of  King  Seleucus  Nicator.  But  hardly 
any  one  will  assert  the  importance  of  the  Negro 
to  share  such  distinction.  For  he  is  so  contemptible 
in  the  eyes  of  the  lynchers  that  his  execution  must 
be  traced  to  some  other  motive  than  fear.  He  is 
so  faithful  that  he  will  tell  almost  anything  he 
knows.  He  is  so  docile  as  to  submit  in  any  case. 
What,  then,  can  be  the  leadings  of  providence  in 
this  case?  Surely  the  mysterious  slavery  of  the 
Israelites,  a  chosen  people,  is  the  parallel.  Has 
God,  then,  as  glorious  a  future  for  the  Negro? 
Will  He  overlook  and  excuse  his  sins  as  he  did  those 
of  Abraham,  who  lied  and  drove  out  his  son  and 
maid  with  a  bottle  of  water,  of  Isaac,  who  lied  and 
denied  Rebecca  his  wife,  or  of  Jacob,  who  took 
extra  means  to  rob  his  uncle  and  enrich  himself? 
The  descendants  of  these  people,  most  noble  in 
many  instances,  and  the  descendants  who  formed  the 
greatest  empire — the  Babylonian  or  Assyrian,  the 
Russian,  the  most  of  the  Eastern  nations,  and  the 
Ishmaelites,  yet  inhabiting  Arabia — have  a  parallel 


A  Record  of  Freedom 


35 


of  David  with  Hannibal;  of  Gamaliel  and  James 
Emman  Kwegyir  Aggrey,  registrar,  college  profes¬ 
sor,  etc.;  of  the  Talmudists  and  Booker  Washing¬ 
ton.  The  credit  is  in  favor  of  the  Negro.  But  the 
Eastern  peoples  were  warriors.  Among  these  Moses 
is  not  to  be  forgotten.  Learned  in  all  the  wisdom 
of  the  Egyptians,  a  great  lawgiver,  he  was  also 
a  warrior.  He  married  a  Negro  and  thereby  in¬ 
curred  the  displeasure  of  his  family.  As  a  contrast 
Frederick  Douglass  did  the  opposite,  and  incurred 
the  hatred  of  his  people. 

The  parallel  might  be  continued.  The  patience 
and  cowardice  of  the  Israelites  are  to  be  in  the 
patience  and  cowardice  of  the  Negroes.  And  the 
430  years  of  Jewish  slavery  is  not  yet  equalled  by 
the  300  years  of  American  bondage.  The  coming 
years  will  continue  the  slavery  till  God  raises  of 
his  goodness  another  Moses. 

But  the  Negro  is  not  perfect.  How  could  a  slave 
be  ?  The  compulsory  submission  to  brutality  makes 
manliness  impossible.  Moses  had  to  be  specially 
led.  Booker  Washington,  of  glorious  memory,  must 
have  also  been  specially  protected;  for  he  escaped 
lynching.  And  God’s  providence  is  as  surely  at 
work  now,  as  then. 

But  lynching  is  also  a  work  of  bravery,  for  it 
defies  the  law. 


36 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


When  Mattathias  killed  the  men  defiling  the 
temple  he  boldly  led  a  band  of  Jews,  assisted  by 
his  sons,  and  drove  the  Syrians  from  Judaea.  When 
lynchers,  imagining  they  are  safe,  lynch  a  Negro, 
they  mask  themselves  or  declare  the  Negro  came 
to  his  death  by  parties  unknown.  Mattathias 
laughed,  and  the  lynchers  laughed,  but  how  differ¬ 
ent  the  sense  of  nobility! 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  LABOR  MARKET 


HE  European  war  affecting  the  Northern 


labor  market,  Negroes  were  asked,  in  the 


course  of  Providence,  to  fill  the  places  of  the  work¬ 
men.  This  will  cause  many  able-bodied  men  to  go 
north,  and  leave  many  gaps  in  the  ranks  of  labor 
in  the  south,  for  as  many  as  10,000  left  one  state. 

The  immigration  northward  caused  many  persons 
to  interest  themselves ;  among  others  the  recent 
Negro  Conference  held  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  and 
representing  the  northeastern  section  of  the  coun¬ 
try.  It  was  announced  later  that  the  Pennsylvania 
railrpad  had  transported  on  one  solid  set  of  trains 
northwards,  three  thousand  of  these  immigrants. 

Manufacturers,  mine  owners,  and  other  business 
men  assured  the  conference  that  these  immigrants 
would  be  given  a  square  deal.  Various  opinions, 
favorable  and  otherwise,  were  expressed  by  southern 
folks.  But  the  spirit  of  justice  is  in  the  minds  of 
some,  and  we  may  expect  experience  to  teach  the 
others  wisdom. 

While  writing  of  God’s  dealings  with  the  Negro 
here,  we  must  parallel  the  dealings  experienced 


37 


l 


38 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


by  the  Jews  with  those  suffered  by  the  Negroes. 
Four  hundred  years  of  slavery  made  the  Israelites 
terribly  afraid  of  the  Egyptians ;  three  hundred  years 
of  slavery  made  the  Negro  afraid  of  his  master’s 
children.  The  journey  thro’  from  Goshen  to 
Raameses  made  the  Israelites  tremble,  and  the 
sight  of  Pharaoh’s  host  behind  them  made  them  cry 
to  the  leader;  the  journey  from  slavery  made  the 
deputations  which  repeatedly  visited  the  presidents 
of  the  United  States!  Special  preparations  were 
made  by  God  for  feeding  the  Israelites:  and  special 
arrangements  were  made  north  and  south  for  the 
feeding  of  the  emancipated  slave.  Repeated  mis¬ 
fortunes  drove  the  Israelites  to  prayer;  and  re¬ 
peated  murders  drove  the  Negro  woman  to  ask 
“Is  God  dead?”  Almost  the  only  means  of  living 
open  to  the  Israelite  was  agriculture  and  almost  the 
only  means  of  existence  for  the  Negro  was  tilling 
cotton  lands.  But  here  the  parallel  ends.  For 
Moses,  Joshua,  and  the  judges  were  Israelites  them¬ 
selves:  while  all  the  rulers  of  the  Negroes  were 
whites.  This  led  to  suspicions  and  murders.  This 
prolonged  slavery,  not  yet  ended  in  some  places,  has 
made  a  people  without  the  necessary  backbone. 
They  cannot  act  without  a  white  leader.  And  the 
only  means  of  unity  seems  to  be  ill-treatment  and 
segregation. 


The  Labor  Market 


39 


But  these  in  turn  hurt  the  whites.  For  the 
servant  class  thus  neglected  and  segregated  carry 
the  conditions  in  which  they  live  to  their  masters’ 
houses. 

A  boy  related  yesterday  that  his  father  said  that 
when  the  master  died  every  slave  was  warned  that 
he  had  better  be  crying.  The  slave  accordingly  put 
something  on  his  eyes,  rubbed  them,  and  looked 
quite  disconsolate.  When  the  young  master  came 
around  to  see  how  things  were,  he  found  what 
appeared  to  be  deep  sorrow.  When  thus  fooled, 
he  gave  each  a  piece  of  meat.  But  the  slaves  had 
heard  somehow  that  freedom  had  come  and  they 
stole  all  the  meat  they  could  get. 

It  would  be  unjust  to  expect  immediate  freedom 
from  this  duplicity  in  their  descendants.  Hence 
what  is  called  by  some  veneering,  by  others  com¬ 
pany  manners,  is  yet  common. 

But  I  turn  to  a  pleasanter  chapter  of  events. 
No  one  who  has  seen  the  beautiful  homes  of  ex¬ 
slaves  in  cities  can  doubt  that  they  have  made 
wonderful  progress.  And  the  greatest  amount  of 
credit  is  due  the  Northern  whites  who  put  their 
lives  in  their  hands,  and  came  south  to  teach.  Their 
efforts  seem  to  have  been  directed  to  lifting  the 
Negro  to  a  plane  of  self-respect.  They  instructed 
him  in  church  and  school,  and  at  last  gave  him  self- 


40 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


respect  in  the  eyes  of  his  fellows.  They  took  him 
north,  and  let  him  see  what  is  called  “God’s  Coun¬ 
try.”  They  gave  him  commission  to  teach  his  peo¬ 
ple.  They  assisted  him  in  building  churches.  They 
invited  him  into  their  counsels,  and  councils.  They 
sent  him  over  the  sea  to  teach  his  heathen  brethren. 
They  taught  him,  above  all,  to  look  to  the  Jesus 
of  the  whites,  who  some  Negroes  said  was  black. 

And  the  grand  doctrine  that  God  had  made  of 
one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the 
face  of  the  earth,  announced  by  Paul  1800  years 
before,  was  not  lost  sight  of. 

The  best  road  to  material  progress  was  in  trades. 
Trade  schools  were  annexed  to  various  schools  till 
Dr.  Washington  established  Tuskegee.  Every  pos¬ 
sible  impetus  was  given  to  the  trades,  and  the  Negro 
was  saved  from  himself  in  ignorance,  to  see  him¬ 
self  in  usefulness  and  respectability. 

The  war  of  1914  came  on.  The  foreigners  who 
could  ride  anywhere  on  the  cars  were  called  to 
their  respective  countries  to  fight.  The  Negro, 
who  had  been  taught  nothing  but  a  trade,  was 
called  from  iron  work,  from  the  farm,  and  from 
various  forms  of  puddling  and  mining  to  the  places 
which  these  foreigners  had  formerly  occupied.  It 
was  said  that  1,000  were  needed  in  January,  1917, 
in  one  place. 


The  Labor  Market 


4i 


Two  men  came  afterwards  with  a  bundle  in  white 
cloth  between  them,  and  sought  a  lodging  in  a 
framed  rooming-house  where,  formerly,  more  re¬ 
spected  persons  were  wont  to  dwell.  These  two 
men  had,  they  said,  only  55  cents  with  which  to 
pay  for  their  lodging.  They  said  that  it  was  im¬ 
possible  to  save  anything  year  by  year;  for  that 
how  hard  so  ever  they  might  work  they  were  with¬ 
out  money  at  the  end  of  the  business  year.  They 
therefore  ran  to  where  they  hoped  a  plain  living 
might  be  got,  and  a  man  could  lift  his  head  without 
being  lynched.  Many  more  were  leaving;  but  some 
on  their  way  too  many  to  please  the  ticket-selling 
men,  were  ordered  to  leave  the  waiting  room.  They 
went  out.  From  the  published  statistics,  the  bulk 
of  the  property  owned  in  the  country  by  colored 
people  is  owned  in  the  south.  This  property  is 
said  to  be  worth  the  state  of  Maine,  to  amount 
to  many  millions,  and  to  shew  that  with  fair  treat¬ 
ment,  and  no  whiskey,  it  could  be  much  more.  For 
if  with  oppression  they  have  overcome  wasteful 
habits  and  owned  so  much,  much  more  by  oppor¬ 
tunity  unfettered  could  they  be  well  off,  and  even 
give  employment  to  each  other. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


EMIGRATION 

WHEN  Lincoln  freed  the  slaves,  he  was  only 
one  step  in  their  emancipation.  The  peo¬ 
ple,  hated  for  their  color,  and  left  among  their 
opponents  can  not  do  their  best.  The  Negro  knows 
this,  and  is  moving  out.  If  Lincoln  had  lived  he 
would  probably  have  helped  them.  A  proper  thing 
for  the  United  States  to  have  done  would  have  been 
to  put  the  many  of  them  on  some  southwestern 
federal  district.  That  these  people  feel  the  desire 
this  way  is  shewn  by  Mound  Bayou,  and  other 
places  settled  by  them,  and  where  Negro  settle¬ 
ments  have  been  formed  to  help  towards  freedom. 

Of  the  men  who  puddled  at  a  southern  town  one 
wrote  back  to  say  that  he  will  only  see  the  town 
“passing  thro’,”  he  was  getting  more  money  in  the 
north.  Of  the  men  who  had  farmed,  some  had 
run  away  to  the  same  southern  town  with  4  trunks 
of  pork,  and  other  valuables,  because  their  lives 
were  not  safe  farther  south.  Men  complained  that 
the  Negroes  took  their  money  and  their  support, 
and  yet  voted  against  them.  But  what  did  Craw¬ 
ford  the  martyr  take? 


42 


Emigration 


43 


This  man  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  church, 
an  officer,  and  highly  successful  as  a  farmer  in 
South  Carolina. 

This  ought  to  have  insured  peace  to  him;  and 
peace  is  the  only  means  by  which  land  can  be  culti¬ 
vated.  Among  the  Israelites  this  peace  was  secured, 
Egyptians  compelling  to  labor.  Among  the  ruffians, 
on  the  other  hand,  successful  labor  was  a  sure  road 
to  lynching. 

Had  a  new  state  been  carved  out  of  the  south¬ 
west  for  the  lately  emancipated  blacks  the  same 
protection  and  care  of  them  would  have  been  needed 
as  that  given  to  the  Indians.  But  a  better  morality 
is  needed  than  what  obtains,  in  order  that  the 
protection  might  be  worth  anything.  No  amount 
of  lawmaking,  it  will  be  seen,  can  make  up  the 
deficiency  of  disrespect  for  the  ten  commandments. 

Of  the  colonies  founded  by  Negroes  none  have 
been  very  successful.  Liberia  followed  the  ex¬ 
ample  of  the  nations,  and  got  into  debt,  and  the 
creditors  menaced  the  republic  for  the  money. 
Haiti  and  Santo  Domingo  did  likewise,  and  are  to¬ 
day  in  durance  from  the  same  cause. 

But  it  is  the  history  of  every  nation  to  get  into 
debt,  from  losses  caused  by  wars  or  the  necessity 
of  cultivation  of  the  land. 

The  government  of  the  United  States  would 


44 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


therefore  have  had  to  give  money  to  the  emigrants. 

Emigration  is  necessary  here  in  the  south ;  Provi¬ 
dence  planned  to  make  men  return  to  Europe  and 
cause  employers  to  take  able-bodied  Negroes  to 
fill  their  places.  But  the  women  and  children 
should  largely  emigrate.  This  would  remove  white 
man’s  apprehension  of  Negro  domination,  and  en¬ 
sure  a  chance  for  those  behind.  For,  says  an  ex¬ 
change: — “What  both  white  and  colored  people 
need  in  the  south,  as  far  as  the  legal  status  of  the 
colored  man  is  concerned,  is  the  appointment  of 
Southern  judges  who  will  administer  the  law  with 
strict  impartiality;  and  this  is  an  issue  that  must  be 
fought  out,  not  so  much  in  politics  as  in  the  broader 
arena  and  before  the  higher  tribunal  of  the  public 
conscience.  This  is  the  white  man’s  fight,  with 
the  Negro  standing  by  as  a  most  interested  specta¬ 
tor.”  Dec.  14,  1916. 

Another  reason  for  encouraging  migration  else¬ 
where  is  plain: — In  shaping  the  national  legisla¬ 
tion,  one  vote  in  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Florida, 
Georgia,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  South  Carolina,  or 
Virginia  is  worth  as  much  as  five  votes  in  Con¬ 
necticut,  New  Jersey,  Ohio,  Michigan,  Iowa,  New 
Mexico,  or  Idaho.  The  eight  Southern  States 
enumerated  cast  a  total  of  511,199  votes  for  the 
election  of  members  to  sit  in  the  64th  congress. 


Emigration 


45 


This  makes  an  average  of  7,745  votes  to  each  dis¬ 
trict,  the  entire  number  of  districts  returning  64 
Democrats,  one  Republican,  and  one  Progressive. 

For  the  seven  Northern  states  mentioned,  the 
total  vote  at  the  same  time  was  2,587,402;  or  an 
average  of  39)203  votes  for  each  district,  returning 
50  Republicans  and  16  Democrats.  Thus  slightly 
over  half  a  million  southern  voters  have  66  spokes¬ 
men  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  whereas  it 
required  more  than  two  and  a  half  million  northern 
voters  to  secure  equal  representation.  .  .  .  Are  the 
north  and  the  Republican  party  to  supinely  submit 
indefinitely  to  this  condition  of  affairs  ?  Emigration, 
then,  of  all  Negroes  is  necessary  in  order  that  some 
may  be  kindly  treated. 


CHAPTER  IX 


TREATMENT  OF  THE  NEGRO  NORTH 
HE  matter  of  good  treatment  came  from 


the  north.  The  New  England  states  began 


it,  Pennsylvania  followed,  Ohio  took  it  up,  and 
the  emigrants  farther  west  carried  it  as  from  the 
north,  in  favor  of  justice;  and  as  from  the  south, 
in  favor  of  brutality. 

Thus  Oklahoma  is  bitterly  against  him,  while 
Kansas — “bleeding  Kansas” — succeeded  in  defend¬ 
ing  him.  In  one  state  he  could  not  intermarry; 
in  another,  he  had  all  kindness.  But  tho’  he  might 
eat  at  a  restaurant,  and  even  put  up  at  a  hotel  in 
Pennsylvania,  he  was  denied  a  chance  to  roll  barrels 
at  times,  as  a  porter,  by  the  side  of  his  white 
brother  in  labor. 

A  single  quotation  from  a  paper  read  before  the 
union  of  ministers  will  shew  further  that  the  south¬ 
ern  spirit  went  north. 

“But  what  course  must  the  Christian  in  the  north 
take?  Certainly  Christ  did  not  refuse  to  Simon 
of  Cyrene  the  right  to  carry  his  cross:  Philip  was 
ready  to  baptize  the  Ethiopian  eunuch;  and  Paul 
who  said,  “There  is  neither  Greek  nor  Barbarian,” 


46 


Treatment  of  the  Negro  North 


47 


would  say  that  spiritually  there  is  neither  white 
nor  black.  Missions  are  based  on  the  presupposi¬ 
tion  that  all  races  are  men;  and  if  men,  brothers; 
if  brothers,  to  be  treated  just  alike.  Abraham 
Lincoln,  though,  seems  to  have  been  the  only  man 
capable  of  talking  to  a  Negro  without  reminding 
him  of  his  racial  difference. 

There  was  once  a  great  missionary  meeting  held 
in  a  certain  place.  The  speakers  included  a  white 
bishop  and  a  Negro  minister.  The  bishop  alluded 
to  “our  coloured  brother,  Rev.  Mr.  Black.”  The 
“coloured  brother”  when  he  got  a  chance  named 
all  the  gentlemen  on  the  platform,  and  then  turned 

to  the  bishop: — “And  you  bishop  - ,  what  a 

pity  that  a  mere  man  should  be  called  a  lord !” 

It  is  certainly  a  weakness  in  a  white  dog  to 
distinguish  between  his  black  brother  and  himself. 
The  white  ants  or  yellow  ants  in  South  America 
are  said  to  make  the  black  ants  work  for  them; 
the  white  men  made  the  red  and  black  men  work 
for  them,  in  pursuance  perhaps,  of  this  animal  prac¬ 
tice.  But  the  practice  cost  the  country  1,000,000 
lives  by  1865. 

Providence,  then,  has  caused  an  increased  im¬ 
provement  in  the  condition  of  the  labor  market  for 
Negroes,  and  the  end  is  not  yet. 

An  effort  is  being  made  to  put  up  a  soldiers’ 


l 


48 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


training  school  somewhere  in  the  south,  where 
Negro  soldier  training  was  most  hated.  But  I  call 
any  man  to  witness  whether  prejudice  did  not 
accomplish  the  very  thing  it  hated.  We  have 
among  others,  two  cases  in  point,  which  I  shall  cite. 
The  patricians  kept  the  Plebeians  of  Rome  from 
participating  in  the  consulship.  The  marriage  of 
one  patrician  sister  to  a  plebeian  husband  incited  her 
to  envy  her  more  fortunate  sister  who  had  married 
a  patrician;  and  a  law  was  made  to  allow  inter¬ 
marriage. 

Another  instance  is  that  of  preventing  any 
“colored”  man  from  any  participation  in  any  coun¬ 
sels  of  whites  in  the  south;  but  they  have  such 
counsels  in  Alabama,  at  two  cities. 

Contempt  is  given  where  a  man  is  evidently 
brutishly  inferior.  The  African  in  ignorance,  with 
his  shoes  looking  up  to  God  at  the  toes  for  mercy, 
his  heels  one-sided,  and  his  knock  knees,  made 
so  by  pushing  heavy  loads,  is  in  contempt  against 
a  man  educated  at  Yale,  and  taught  that  he  repre* 
sents  God  to  the  African. 

A  man  in  Alabama,  therefore,  who  saw  a  genu¬ 
ine  educated  African,  asked  him  if  he  said  he  came 
from  Africa. 

“Yes,  sir!”  was  the  reply. 

“I  do  not  believe  you!”  said  the  gentleman. 


Treatment  of  the  Negro  North 


49 


“I  am  an  African  all  the  same!” 

Well,  replied  the  gentleman,  “I  will  shew  you 
an  African.  Here!  call  uncle  Nero.” 

A  Negro  came.  His  face  was  the  picture  of 
human  misery.  His  eyes  dilated  betwixt  fear  and 
curiosity.  His  feet  ambled  as  he  walked.  His 
hat  was  battered.  His  shoes,  unkempt,  were  too 
large,  and  the  front  looked  up,  and  the  heels  bent 
out,  while  his  knees  rubbed  each  other. 

That  is  an  African,  said  the  gentleman,  looking 
at  our  educated  brother. 

And  that,”  replied  he,  “is  what  I  would  be  if 
I  had  had  the  same  treatment  as  he.” 

Au  contraire ,  if  he  had  been  educated  and  kindly 
treated,  he  would  have  had  fine,  straight,  small  feet 
like  other  Africans  found  in  Northern  schools, 
and  educated  as  professors,  etc.,  for  their  native 
hearths. 

This  idea  of  fair  play,  coming  originally  from  the 
Jews  in  Palestine,  and  from  them  thro’  the  Romans 
to  us,  has  permeated  every  noble  mind,  and  estab¬ 
lished  a  hatred  for  slavery  in  France  and  England 
which  is  now  shared  by  the  New  Englander,  and 
carried  thro’  their  schools  to  the  south  land.  But 
brutality  does  not  waver.  The  men  who  saw 
the  colored  woman  interfere  with  the  white  child 
who  was  fighting  the  Negro  child,  and  who  hanged 


50 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


the  woman,  and  then,  according  to  report,  called 
her  husband  and  told  him  that  there  hung  his  cow, 
were  either  shot  or  scattered  by  the  enraged  hus¬ 
band.  One  boy  died  some  time  before  cursing  and 
defying  his  tormentors;  and  I  want  to  ask  if  any¬ 
body  thinks  that  there  is  a  just  God,  who  takes 
vengeance. 

It  is  increasingly  contrasted  that  in  every  other 
country  all  men  worship  God  together.  The  East 
Indian  may  have  a  separate  service  for  the  sake  of 
a  different  language;  but  as  to  the  African  in 
Africa  he  has  the  same  with  his  teachers.  If  any 
exception  exists  no  information  is  to  hand.  And 
it  is  intended  that  all  shall  share  equally  the  re¬ 
sponsibilities  of  government.  All  are  expected  to 
fight  side  by  side  for  their  country.  Each  one  is 
prepared  to  do  his  part  to  increase  its  efficiency. 
Every  one  must  be  a  member  of  the  body  politic. 
The  Negro  is  a  banker,  a  judge,  a  magistrate,  a 
member  of  parliament,  or  a  captain  as  the  case  may 
be;  and  the  word  colored,  so  necessary  in  some 
places  here,  is  never  recorded  against  him. 

Is  God,  then,  acting  in  two  different  ways  with 
the  Negro?  It  is  to  be  noted  that  he  lives  and 
sins  in  the  same  way  as  the  white  man,  and  ought 
therefore  to  have  the  same  treatment. 

Here,  then,  is  the  solution.  The  God  that  made 


Treatment  of  the  Negro  North 


51 


him  intends  him  to  be  good  and  able.  If  he  can¬ 
not  imitate  the  good  and  great  gone  before,  he 
must  suffer  the  penalties  of  the  worthless  left  be¬ 
hind. 

In  connection  with  this  condition,  no  set  of  men 
is  more  necessary  to  the  world  than  the  Negro  min¬ 
ister,  so  much  maligned,  and  yet  so  badly  rewarded 
when  he  is  good,  for  his  services.  Entirely  with¬ 
out  political  help,  the  race  depends  for  guidance 
on  its  ministers.  These,  hunted  and  disrespected, 
devise  means  of  escape  from  trouble,  reconcile  those 
who  quarrel,  marry,  preach  and  teach.  Besides 
these  spiritual  employments,  they  set  up  banks, 
organize  lodges,  and  other  benevolent  agencies,  and 
act  as  models  for  the  young.  But  most  important 
of  all,  they  build  churches  and  schools,  without 
which  their  people  would  resent  all  insults  to  their 
women  and  children ;  and  they  keep  their  people  in 
memory  and  hope  of  another  Canaan  for  which 
they  must  prepare,  and  in  which  “the  wicked  will 
cease  from  troubling,  and  the  weary  be  at  rest.” 

These  services  are  performed  under  the  most 
adverse  conditions.  Taught  thro’  their  mothers 
and  fathers  to  do  anything  they  were  commanded, 
they  have  to  overcome  evil  themselves,  and  induce 
their  members  to  overcome  it  in  their  homes. 

Without  a  Christian  model,  except  Jesus  Christ 


52 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


t 

himself,  they  were  taught  that  God  was  a  white 
man,  and  a  white  man’s  friend,  while  they  had 
no  status  at  all.  When  their  women  were  out¬ 
raged  and  sought  magisterial  protection,  they  found 
no  satisfaction;  the  rapists  being  allowed  time  to 
escape.  And  when  the  ministers  took  up  the  matter 

they  were  told  that  they  had  better  be  d - d 

thankful  that  matters  were  no  worse. 

Without  a  central  protecting  government,  and 
with  a  local  government  made  up  of  enemies,  they 
sought  in  vain  for  justice.  Every  officer  connected 
with  a  church,  who  stole  money  was  jeered  at  by 
some  truthful  correspondent  of  a  newspaper,  as  a 
Negro  preacher.  Every  mishap  was  magnified  into 
a  great  fault.  Every  attack  by  ruffians  on  the 
Negroes  was  called  a  race  riot,  and  the  men  who 
were  attacked  had  no  chance  to  reply  in  the  same 
newspaper. 

No  weapon  was  respected  but  the  murderers’. 
No  argument  was  heeded  but  the  argument  of  the 
fist.  Every  encouragement  is  given  to  mob  violence ; 
every  sort  of  discouragement  to  pure  women. 

At  last  attacks  on  them  are  met  with  the  pistol, 
and  some  virtue  asserted  where  vice  reigned.  So 
our  colored  newspapers  tell  us.  No  mention  of 
virtue  is  made.  No  one  praises;  every  one  blames 
a  Negro  in  those  localities. 


Treatment  of  the  Negro  North 


53 


Accentuated  prejudice  is  not  likely  to  bring  peace. 
Emphasized  hatred  cannot  secure  blessings.  In¬ 
creased  migration  north  may  continue  the  preju¬ 
dice,  and  make  protection  so  uncertain  as  to  bring 
about  a  second  Armenia  of  massacres  and  resistance. 
Since  writing  the  above,  this  has  taken  place  in 
East  St.  Louis,  where  Negro  children  were  driven 
back  into  the  fired  houses,  and  harmless  women  were 
butchered. 


CHAPTER  X 


VOTING 

SAYS  a  voter: — “We  used  to  have  all  the  names 
on  the  occasion  of  voting.  If  for  the  Repub¬ 
lican  ticket,  we  wrote  the  name  of  the  man  we 
wanted.  The  people  in  our  district  did  not  hinder 
us  from  voting;  they  tried  to  get  us  to  vote  their 
way.”  “But,”  he  continued,  “now  we  have  to  go 
into  a  booth  and  vote  differently.” 

The  votes  may  be  counted  in  some  places,  but  the 
results  to  the  Negro  are  the  same — unfortunate. 
All  voting  is  good,  if  the  object  be  justice;  but 
when  the  judges  have  discretionary  power,  the  ob¬ 
ject  of  good  voting  is  made  of  none  effect.  I  have 
shewn  above  that  fewer  votes  are  sufficient  to  elect 
in  the  south.  But,  few  or  many,  the  impression  is 
fastened  on  the  voter’s  mind,  that  everything  will 
go  a  certain  way.  This  is  an  unhealthy  state  of 
things.  All  the  Jews  voted  to  kill  Christ.  All 
France  suffered  from  Jacobin  rule. 

But  contempt  is  found  where  a  man  cannot  vote, 
either  because  he  is  not  white,  or  because  he  cannot 
read.  The  representation  is  then  of  certain  per¬ 
sons  only.  The  government  is  by  a  certain  number. 
I  am  made  to  pay  taxes  in  such  a  case,  when  I  do 

54 


Voting 


55 


not  help  to  make  the  laws.  The  laws  are  then 
administered  for  some ;  not  all  of  the  people,  and  the 
remainder  are  underlings,  oppressed  or  well-treated 
as  the  law-enforcers  may  please.  This  is  taxing  a 
man  without  allowing  him  a  voice  in  the  taxing. 
Some  time  ago  a  man  who  taught  school  was  at¬ 
tempting  to  get  registered.  He  was  examined  and 
refused ;  but  a  man  who  could  not  read  was  regis¬ 
tered.  Many  subterfuges  and  hindrances  were  put 
into  the  way  of  colored  voters,  till  they  became 
alarmed,  and  ceased  to  offer  themselves.  But  after 
a  time,  they  qualified  by  property,  and  registered. 
Now  the  question  may  be  again  asked,  Why  does 
God  allow  these  vexatious  discriminations  ?  For 
the  same  reason  that  He  allowed  the  Israelites  to 
be  enslaved. 

A  very  effective  mode  of  preventing  Negro  domi¬ 
nance  is  redistricting — an  unnecessary  and  very 
often  vexatious  proceeding.  It  causes  a  district  to 
be  put  into  some  other  and  thus  to  enable  politicians 
to  elect  their  man. 

The  present  expedient  is  segregation.  By  this 
some  part  of  a  town  will  be  well-cared  for,  and 
another  neglected. 

But  no  country,  says  a  great  man,  can  exist  half 
free.  We  will  await  decisions.  But  let  me  give 
some  historical  data. 


/ 


56  God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 

The  people  of  Persia  had  enslaved  or  subdued 
the  Israelites.  A  certain  man,  Haman  by  name, 
hated  a  Jew  named  Mordecai.  In  order  to  get 
this  Jew,  he  determined  to  kill,  at  pleasure,  all 
Jews.  The  king  was  offered  an  equivalent  of  taxes 
for  them,  and  consented.  Their  fate  was  decided. 
Mordecai  does  not  seem  to  have  prayed,  nor  did 
Esther,  the  Jewish  queen;  but  they  did  resort  to 
those  means  commonly  used  by  men ;  namely,  poli¬ 
tics.  Having  dressed  herself  she  appeared  before 
the  king,  was  graciously  received,  invited  him  and 
her  arch  enemy  to  dinner,  and,  having  the  chance, 
accused  his  friend,  Haman,  of  desiring  her  death. 
The  king  was  astonished.  The  queen  left  the 
room,  Haman  followed  to  supplicate  her.  The 
king  saw  him  kneeling  by  her  couch.  His  jealousy 
was  roused.  A  eunuch  addressed  the  king  that 
Haman  had  built  a  gallows  fifty  cubits  high  for 
Mordecai’s  death.  “Hang  him  thereon!”  said  the 
king. 

It  might  appear  here  that  God  was  not  sought 
in  any  way  by  the  parties;  yet  it  is  plain  that  He 
interfered  for  the  preservation  of  his  people;  for 
He  intended  Jesus  Christ  to  be  born  from  them. 

No  better  instance  of  God’s  interest  in  the  Negro 
can  be  adduced  than  in  this  that  the  race  multiplies. 
No  better  thing  can  happen  for  his  continued  promi- 


Voting 


57 


nence  in  labor  here,  than  that  a  law  has  been 
passed  for  the  keeping  out  of  the  ignorant,  tho’ 
able-bodied  foreigner.  If  the  ratio  of  births  of 
American  whites  is  kept  up  to,  it  is  plain  that  the 
number  of  Negroes  will  be  25  million  in  1926. 
And  as  every  mixture  produces  a  colored  child, 
and  it  seems  impossible  to  keep  the  races  apart,  the 
Negro-hating  element  works  out  its  own  destruc¬ 
tion.  Esther,  the  Jewess,  came  to  the  throne  for 
just  such  deliverance.  Here  the  analogy  seems  to 
cease.  But  the  war  has  supplied  the  rest.  The 
number  of  Negro  voters  will  be  increased  in  the 
east,  where  it  is  wanted  and  be  gone  from  the  south, 
where  it  is  not  wanted. 

A  second  case  in  point  is  when  Ahaz  was  utterly 
at  a  loss  to  find  a  saviour  for  his  country  in  her 
domestic  woes,  and  foreign  troubles.  Murdering 
had  been  most  common,  as  here  of  Negro-men. 
The  king,  wicked  and  wishing  succour,  was  asked 
to  choose  what  aid  he  would  have.  He  refused. 
“Behold  a  virgin  shall  conceive,”  said  the  prophet, 
“and  bring  forth  a  son.” 

It  has  been  boastingly  asserted  that  as  a  voter, 
the  Negro  is  helpless.  But  were  not  the  Hebrews 
helpless  also? 

An  excellent  way  to  vote  is  by  popular  assemblies, 
and  an  aye  and  nay  vote.  It  is  quick  and  decided. 


58 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


It  causes  no  paper  waste,  no  chicanery,  no  loss  of 
time,  nor  doubt.  But  it  cannot  be  had,  as  in 
churches,  so  the  ballot  is  put  into  the  hands  of 
enemies  in  some  countries,  and  rebellion  is  often  the 
result. 

When  the  Italians  in  the  time  of  the  third  Punic 
war  had  nothing  but  a  nominal  ballot  they  applied 
to  the  sword ;  and  after  many  had  been  killed, 
secured  Roman  citizenship,  a  more  important  thing. 

The  efforts  of  the  Negro  must  be  directed,  how¬ 
ever,  as  much  to  intelligent  knowledge  of  affairs, 
as  to  an  actual  count  of  votes  by  an  unprejudiced, 
or,  at  least,  one  sympathetic  person. 

Government  by  majority  is  sometimes  hurtful. 
It  was  so  when  Jesus  was  crucified,  for  a  majority 
then  and  there  was  in  contravention  of  justice 
and  the  law,  the  witnesses  not  agreeing.  Much  has 
been  said  in  favor  of  republics;  but  an  imperator 
succeeded  the  one  at  Rome.  A  strong  sense  of  free¬ 
dom  tempered  by  justice  is  necessary  to  uphold 
any  government. 


CHAPTER  XI 


HISTORY  OF  NEGRO  FREEDOM 

THE  stopping  of  the  slave  trade  by  the  English, 
the  putting  down  of  slavery  by  the  North 
thro’  a  voluntary  emancipation,  and  the  proclama¬ 
tion  of  freedom  to  the  slaves  of  the  masters  then 
in  rebellion,  led  to  the  final  emancipation  by  con¬ 
gress.  From  what  can  be  gathered,  Africans  have 
ever  held  high  place  in  the  world’s  history;  and 
Negroes  in  the  east  and  west  have  made  both  sol¬ 
diers  and  statesmen.  Our  task  concerns  us  with 
America  alone;  but  we  may  note  that  many  men 
in  ebony  were  brave  soldiers,  and  generals,  and 
thus  shewed  the  mettle  of  the  Negro. 

The  first  I  shall  mention  is  Zerah,  the  Ethiopian. 
Any  man  who  could  raise  and  equip  1,000,000  men 
and  carry  them  a  distance  of  900  miles  deserves 
credit. 

This  man  attacked  Asa,  king  of  Judah,  accord¬ 
ing  to  II  Chron.  14.  9,  10.  Asa  defeated  Zerah  at 
Mareshah.  We  next  find  the  Negro  in  Abyssinia, 
where  King  Menelek  is  said  to  have  been  descended 
from  Solomon.  Candace,  queen  of  the  Ethiopians, 
was  wise  enough  to  allow  her  officer,  a  eunuch,  to 

59 


6o 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


go  to  church  at  Jerusalem.  The  bravery  of  the 
Rabah  of  the  Sahara,  who  fought  the  French  for 
six  years  is  well  acknowledged.  Toussaint 
L’Ouverture,  of  Haiti,  is  remarkable  as  having  rid 
his  island  of  the  rule  of  three  nations. 

The  ability  to  make  laws  is  shewn  plainly  by 
the  men  who  have  helped  in  France  and  the  West 
Indies.  We  never  hear  that  the  French  parliament 
objects  to  them  because  they  are  not  white:  rather 
that  parliament  welcomes  them  because  they  have 
ability.  All  kinds  of  fish  and  all  colors  are  wel¬ 
come  in  the  sea.  The  celebrated  Dumas,  Fils, 
was  as  welcome  as  his  father.  And  the  remarkable 
B.  K.  Bruce,  of  southern  fame,  was  possessed  of 
the  same  ability  as  any. 

But  Japanese  are  not  Negroes,  yet  they  are  un¬ 
welcome.  And  Chinese  are  as  much  hated  in  places, 
as  are  Negroes  here. 

The  thing  called  color  prejudice  is  a  modern 
hydra-headed  snake  which  writhes,  and  twists  itself 
around  the  bodies  of  men,  because  the  hated  men 
are  of  a  different  color. 

The  Negro  as  a  political  power  is  lost  to  view 
in  every  other  country  but  America  in  its  southern 
aspect. 

The  hateful  remark  or  writing  “John  Jones, 
Col.,”  is  as  much  out  of  place  in  God’s  creation 


History  of  Negro  Freedom 


6l 


as  is  the  remark,  “a  flying  fish,  scaly.”  Surely,  too, 
one  man’s  dollar  or  service  is  as  good  as  another’s. 

While  these  hateful  prejudices  are  unnecessary 
here,  they  irritate  the  objects  of  them.  A  feeling 
increases  in  these  that  this  country  is  their  enemy, 
and  many  say  they  will  not  fight  for  it.  On  the 
other  hand,  many  colored  Americans  are  enrolled 
in  the  army  of  Canada,  of  which  they  form  not 
separate  regiments  “colored,”  but  any  individuality. 
Yet  the  Canadians  are  in  no  danger  of  turning 
black.  And  France  that  makes  no  difference  is 
yet  white. 

But  the  best  argument  against  discrimination  on 
account  of  color  is  that  the  white  people  themselves 
are  divided  on  the  question.  The  fact  that  Negro 
men  do  everything  as  whites  do;  and  the  costume 
of  the  blacks,  got  from  the  whites,  which  fits  both 
equally  well;  above  all  the  giving  of  the  gospel 
to  both  would  premise  that  both  are  destined  to 
go  to  the  same  places  after  death.  That  the  black 
man  must  pay  taxes;  that  he  must  perform  military 
service ;  that  he  must  be  governed  by  the  same  laws ; 
all  indicate  acknowledgment,  in  the  south,  that  he 
is  a  man.  Then  he  ought  to  be  consulted  to  the 
making  of  the  laws  which  govern  him  in  congress 
or  state,  or  municipality. 

The  equal  application  of  law  would  result  in 


62 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


such  representation.  The  thirteenth,  fourteenth, 
and  fifteenth  amendments  to  the  constitution,  tho’ 
dead  letters,  demand  this. 

Is  God,  and  is  the  legislating  done  waiting  de¬ 
velopments?  The  amendment  gives  congress  ap¬ 
propriate  power  for  appropriate  legislation  in  case 
the  amendments  are  not  observed;  but  republican 
indifference  has  ended  in  republican  disunion  in 
the  election  of  a  democratic  power;  and  in  the 
spectacle  of  the  government  discriminating  against 
its  citizens.  Now  where  in  the  history  of  man  do 
you  find  such  a  thing  without  mischievous  results? 
Let  us  cite  a  few  examples. 

In  Egypt  there  were  certain  kings  remarkable 
for  bravery.  One  of  these  kings  received  Jacob 
and  his  sons,  and  treated  them  honorably.  But 
in  time  there  arose  a  king,  who,  jealous  of  his 
countrymen’s  prestige,  began  to  ill-treat  and  en¬ 
slave  their  fellow  men.  These  were  put  to  hard 
tasks,  whipped,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  diminished 
by  blows,  by  infanticide,  and  by  threats.  Did  these 
succeed  ? 

Take  another  example.  The  Boers,  Dutch 
farmers  living  in  Southern  Africa,  determined  to 
“trek,”  and  thus  keep  themselves  apart,  in  African 
wilds,  from  the  English.  Have  they  succeeded? 
But  the  native  African  was  to  be  dispossessed,  and 


History  of  Negro  Freedom 


63 


ordered  from  the  soil,  the  street,  and  the  councils 
of  his  home.  Have  the  African  women  tamely  sub¬ 
mitted  thereto? 

Nor  have  the  efforts  made  to  secure  a  peaceful 
possession  of  American  soil  for  Americans  only. 
Negroes  make  trouble  by  their  very  submission  to 
wrongs.  Germans  are  many;  Japanese  may  yet 
cause  serious  trouble. 

On  the  other  hand,  all  nationalities  are  fighting 
loyally  under  the  banners  of  the  entente  allies,  and, 
with  justice,  all  nationalities  will  fight  willfully 
under  the  American  flag,  for  each  one  must  pro¬ 
tect  his  own  home. 


CHAPTER  XII 


THE  OUTLOOK  FOR  PEACE 

WHEN  the  European  war  began  it  was  ear¬ 
nestly  hoped  that  no  Negroes  would  be 
further  enlisted  in  the  American  army.  Now  a 
Negro  soldier’s  training  institution  is  to  be  estab¬ 
lished. 

In  the  Boer  war  only  whites  were  employed.  In 
the  Great  War,  everybody — women  and  all — is 
needed.  There  is  not  a  single  country  in  the  world 
that  is  not  affected.  Neutrals  lose  their  ships  and 
supplies.  Home  folks  make  big  fortunes.  Women 
get  twice  as  much  money  as  before.  People  ere- 
while  idle  rich,  are  now  diligent  workers.  Un¬ 
employment,  once  an  English  menace,  is  hardly 
heard  of.  Trades,  once  helpless  if  left  without 
some  articles,  now  substitute  for  others.  Thus, 
necessity  excites  invention. 

Trade,  the  “golden  girdle  of  the  globe,”  is  threat¬ 
ened  by  German  submarines,  and  hunger  so  distant 
once,  threatens  America  now.  The  Negro,  every¬ 
where  adaptable,  is  called  north,  is  wanted  south, 
is  courted  for  the  army,  and  will  doubtless  be  put 
like  Uriah,  in  the  forefront  of  the  battle.  This  will 
be  a  certainty  in  case  of  war  here.  This  is  a 

64 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


65 


measure  already  in  vogue.  What  may  we  expect 
for  a  repetition  of  his  faithful  services  at  El  Caney 
and  at  Bunker  Hill?  Ill-treatment.  But  he  is 
being  educated  by  the  same  books,  and  often  by 
the  same  men,  who  expect  better  recognition  them¬ 
selves.  Will  he  always  submit?  This  is  the  ques¬ 
tion  which  the  lynchers  worry  over.  Education 
may  make  him  quiet,  but  cannot  make  him  forget. 

And  all  cannot  or  will  not  be  educated.  Many 
will  be  rough  railroad  hands  fit  to  suffer,  and  to 
shoot,  and  to  wrench. 

The  educated  man  submitting  will  be  no  match 
for  the  rough  hand  with  a  crow  bar  or  a  gun. 
The  praying  parson  will  not  be  heard  in  the  din 
of  battle.  Right  must  succeed;  might  must  bow  its 
head.  Spiritual  means  will  be  God’s  turned  into 
carnal  weapons;  for  he  sent  Moses  to  destroy  the 
Amalekites ;  and  he  sends  the  Germans  to  destroy 
the  nations.  Shall  there,  then,  “be  evil  in  the  city, 
and  the  Lord  hath  not  done  it?” 

The  highwater  mark  of  prejudiced  brutality  has 
been  reached;  the  blood  of  the  victims,  innocent  in 
many  cases,  cries  unto  God  from  the  ground.  Fear 
coupled  with  cruelty  has  yet  to  be  punished.  Craw¬ 
ford’s  blood,  no  less  than  that  of  the  innocent  boy 
of  eighteen  in  Texas,  calls  for  vengeance. 

And  the  Negro  preacher  who  said  lately  that 


66 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


God  was  love,  and  the  Negro  loved,  and  was  there¬ 
fore  of  God,  may  have  been  right  after  all. 

The  outlook,  then,  is  good  for  the  rough  Negro, 
for  he  can  stand  anything;  for  the  gentle  Negro, 
for  he  will  not  fight,  and  like  Issachar  crouches 
down  between  two  burdens;  and  for  the  workman, 
for  his  labor  is  needed. 

But  there  are  the  present  sufferers.  They  crouch 
in  back  alleys,  and  on  front  streets  under  threat 
of  expulsion,  of  intrigue,  of  death.  Becoming 
lawyers  and  doctors,  and  gentlemen  is  their  bane. 
“I  can’t  be  any  gintleman,”  says  the  little  darkey, 
“  ’cause  I’se  a  nigger.” 

Such  people  are  satisfied ;  but  the  gentleman, 
never!  He  may  be  silent,  and  prudent,  but  satis¬ 
fied  ? — never ! 

There  is  one  power  in  this  connection,  however, 
which  is  a  safeguard  for  the  Negroes’  enemies.  His 
love  to  tell  what  has  passed  in  the  Negroes’  coun¬ 
sels  more  than  counterbalances  his  resentment.  So 
that  unless  some  sudden  all-directing  power  appears, 
he  is  likely  to  trust  to  God  and  law  to  give  that 
protection  he  so  sorely  needs.  And  I  think  that 
this  trait  has  been  discounted;  therefore  he  is  de¬ 
spised.  Protection  of  self  by  oneself  is  yet  to  be 
taught  him. 

In  preparation  for  war,  Germans  in  America  are 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


67 


said,  by  the  newspapers,  to  be  leaving  at  the  rate 
of  400  a  week  for  Mexico.  And  why  for  Mexico? 
And  why  is  this  preparation  for  war  so  slow; 
or  rather  this  power  to  declare  war  kept  back? 
It  prepares  the  Germans  who  are  fighting  as  well 
when  they  are  said  to  be  starving.  If  they  shall 
ever  get  hold  of  the  grain  of  Odessa,  of  the  oil  of 
Oka,  of  the  sugar  cane  of  India,  of  the  farina  of 
South  America,  another  song  will  be  sung. 

England,  the  nation  which,  after  the  French,  has 
the  most  to  lose,  is  well  aware  of  the  danger  ahead. 
Her  statesman,  at  the  head  of  affairs,  warns  the 
sellers  not  to  enhance  prices.  There  is  no  waiting 
back  to  hear  the  opinion  of  a  commission,  having 
to  wait,  but  notice  is  at  once  given  not  to  enhance 
prices  in  England.  All  Negroes  are  glad  to  help 
England,  for  all  Negroes  are  free  under  its  flag. 
It  is  a  flag  of  action.  It  loves  peace;  but  peace  may 
be  bought  too  dear.  Peace  is  like  gold,  good  to 
spend,  and  good  to  keep.  And  the  Negro  loves  both. 
He  goes  to  England,  to  France,  to  Spain  to  look 
for  it.  His  going  to  Liberia  emphasized  the  feeling 
that  he  could  not  find  it  here ;  but  he  cannot  alone, 
without  borrowing,  make  good  there.  Nay!  if 
Roman  citizenship  is  worth  anything,  it  is  worth 
in  Rome,  here  must  freedom  be  worth  while  to  the 
American. 


68 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


If  Simon  of  Cyrene  bore  the  cross  of  Christ,  the 
Negro,  unwilling,  is  yet  bearing  it.  He  is  a  very 
plain  example  of  unwilling  submission  to  a  willing 
tyrant.  And  without  protection  he  cannot  work. 
Yet  he  endeavors.  Many  men  of  color  have  been 
turned  out  of  office.  All  men  in  office  nearly  are 
white ;  and  in  order  to  keep  them  only,  the  following 
rules  are  observed,  and  enforced  at  head-quarters: 

1.  Never  to  call  a  worthy  person  of  color  Mr. 
or  Miss. 

2.  Never  to  allow  them  to  sit  or  eat  on  terms  of 
equality. 

3.  Never  to  give  them  any  chance  to  make  an 
equal  living. 

4.  Never  to  have  them  worship  God  in  the 
same  house,  or  place,  or  way  if  possible. 

5.  To  regard  them  therefore  as  inferiors  to  be 
kept  in  that  condition  for  ever. 

These  plans  are  laid  by  people  fond  of  fair  play 
otherwise,  but  who  profess  to  be  Christians.  Peo¬ 
ple  watching  them,  as  they  politely  take  off  their 
hats  to  their  ladies,  go  to  church,  pray,  and  get 
ready  to  leave  their  possessions  to  their  officers  in 
church,  and  to  their  children  would  believe  them 
incapable  of  doing  a  mean  act.  But  the  same  men 
will  take  their  pipes  into  the  Negro  waiting  room 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


69 


and  smoke  there,  because  none  but  Negroes  are  in 
there. 

I  was  travelling  once  eastward  from  here. 

The  coaches  stopped  at  S - .  A  man  saw  two 

persons,  a  man  and  a  woman  in  the  so-called  colored 
car.  He  looked  around,  and  then  said: — “There 
is  no  one  in  here  but  colored  people!” 

Upon  that,  he  sat  down  and  began  to  smoke. 
The  man  who  was  thus  contemned  ran  to  get  the 
conductor  who  was  off  the  car.  The  cowardly 
gentleman  smoker  watched  the  man,  saw  the  direc¬ 
tion  he  took,  divined  his  purpose,  and  left  the  Negro 
car  before  the  conductor  arrived.  The  man  who 
went  to  get  the  conductor  was  a  highly  educated 
person,  who  had  travelled  extensively,  had  seen 
many  customs,  but  was  unused  to  this  brutal  sort 
of  manners.  The  woman  had  remarked  that  she 
paid  for  first  class  treatment,  and  wanted  it. 

“Go  to  the  conductor!”  said  the  traveller,  “and 
he  will  give  you  protection.” 

“I  want  to  have  first-class  treatment,”  said  the 
lady. 

“I  tell  you  to  go  to  the  conductor!”  said 
the  traveller. 

But  he  had  to  go.  And  when  the  conductor  heard 
his  plaint  he  moved  rapidly  forward  with — “Where 
is  he?” 


70 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


But  the  cowardly  gentleman  had  disappeared  into 
the  “white  car,”  and  the  colored  passengers  could 
not  go  there  even  to  make  complaint. 

An  attorney  in  a  great  city  had  a  case  in  hand 
for  the  protection  or  punishment  of  a  ruffian  who 
had  struck  a  traveller  in  the  face  for  keeping  his 
buggy  till  6 :  30  o’clock,  in  the  evening.  And  this 
is  how  it  happened. 

A  certain  Baptist  preacher  had  borrowed  a  chair 
from  the  ruffian  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
preacher’s  wife,  and  seeing  the  traveller  returning 
thither,  detained  him,  to  carry  back  the  chair.  Un¬ 
willing  to  go,  and  still  more  not  wanting  to  say 
he  would  not  carry  it,  the  traveller  went  and  waited 
for  a  note,  and  the  chair.  On  his  arrival  at  the 
store  to  give  up  horse  and  chair,  he  was  asked  what 
had  kept  him  so  late. 

“This  note  will  answer,”  he  said.  Upon  which, 
the  ruffian  pulled  up  his  sleeves,  and  with  an  oath 
emptied  out  of  his  throat,  he  struck  the  traveller 
in  the  face.  Several  men  in  the  store  ran  forward 
upon  this,  to  hold  the  hands  of  the  traveller  in 
order  that  the  brave  aggressor  might  beat  him  un¬ 
molested.  He  saw  the  plot,  and  without  moving 
and  while  the  blood  trickled  from  his  face,  said : 
“You  will  pay  for  this,  gentlemen.” 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


71 


“God  d - n  it!”  said  the  ruffian.  Why  did  you 

keep  my  buggy? 

“The  note  will  explain,”  said  the  traveller. 

Another  blow  came. 

The  note  fell  on  the  floor,  and  the  gloves  he 
had  taken  off  behind  it,  the  men  still  looking  on. 

“Lend  me  your  gun!”  said  the  ruffian. 

“Order  here!”  said  the  quondam  constable  who, 
tho’  his  term  of  office  for  the  Christmas  season 
was  expired,  yet  made  a  show  of  defending  the 
oppressed  traveller.  “Order  here!”  he  cried  again. 
“Get  out  o’  here!”  said  the  ruffian. 

“I  will  never  leave  till  my  gloves  are  given 
to  me,”  said  the  traveller,  “and  you  will  pay  for 
this.” 

The  clerk  of  the  store  who  was  from  another 
part  of  the  country,  thereupon  picked  up  the  gloves, 
and  gave  them  to  the  traveller,  with  a  sigh  of 
sympathy. 

The  traveller  left  and  went  to  a  house  where 
he  sat  up  all  night. 

Early  next  morning  he  went  to  the  county  town 
where  he  shewed  his  face  (which  the  doctor  had 
plastered  after  putting  on  an  antiseptic),  to  the 
attorney-general.  This  gentleman  said  it  was  a 

d - ned  shame,  and  sent  him  to  another  man,  who 

sent  him  to  a  magistrate. 


72 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


Now,  upon  learning  of  the  case,  the  head  man  of 
the  village,  which  was  12  miles  from  the  county 
seat,  pretended  to  fine  the  ruffian  who  had  inflicted 
the  blow,  the  sum  of  five  dollars.  And  as  the 
ruffian  was  clerk  and  treasurer  of  the  village,  he 
made  no  ado  about  submitting.  Meanwhile,  an 
order  for  the  ruffian’s  arrest  had  been  issued  by  the 
magistrate,  and  the  officer  went  to  get  the  men 
guilty  of  assault. 

Upon  his  arrival,  the  head  man  of  the  village  gave 
bond  for  their  appearance,  and  they  prepared  to 
have  the  complainant  jailed  for  perjury. 

When  the  case  was  called  in  court,  the  com¬ 
plainant  was  absent  at  his  wife’s  funeral.  The  at¬ 
torney  employed  by  him  sent  the  case  on  to  the 
grand  jury  altho’  he  was  told  that  the  complainant 
had  no  evidence  that  the  man  had  assailed  him 
with  knuckles  of  brass,  without  which  proof  it 
would  be  impossible  to  make  a  case  in  high  court. 
Immediately  upon  the  dismissal  of  the  case  the 
traveller  was  arrested  for  perjury.  In  offering  to 
give  bond,  no  one  could  be  found.  A  man  dressed 
in  a  tweed  suit  appeared,  and  ordered  the  officer 
not  to  touch  the  traveller,  even  if  he  was  a  stranger ; 
but  to  wait  until  the  magistrate,  St.  Patrick,  arrived. 
Upon  his  arrival  one  stranger  offered  bond,  and 
another  gentleman,  a  professor,  acted  with  him, 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


73 


and  the  traveller  was  allowed  to  go  free.  Upon 
arriving  at  a  house  to  which  he  was  invited  the 
matron  said  she  had  no  room,  and  made  other 
excuses.  He  sought  another  place  and  paid  for 
a  lodging.  On  arriving  at  the  next  town  next  day, 
a  merchant  called  him  and  shewed  him  a  newspaper 
in  which  the  following  appeared  in  large  headlines 
of  a  newspaper,  “Indicted  for  Perjury!  A  sub¬ 
ject  of  King  Edward  in  the  hands  of  the  law  for 
Perjury.  It  is  thought  that  King  Edward  will  not 
interfere,  and  that  the  law  will  be  allowed  to  take 
its  course!” 

A  message  was  sent  by  a  certain  lady  at  the  same 
time  telling  the  complainant  that  tho’  he  had 
escaped  the  professor,  he  was  now  in  the  hands 
of  solicitor  Esaes,  whom  he  could  not  escape. 

While  all  this  is  going  on  let  us  see  what  the 
authorities  are  doing. 

I  said  that  the  traveller  had  sat  up  all  night 
after  the  doctor  had  dressed  his  face.  The  doctor 
had  asked  if  the  assailant  was  drunk.  To  which 
he  replied  that  he  could  not  tell.  When  the  magis¬ 
trate  was  ordered  by  the  solicitor  to  have  the  assail¬ 
ant  arrested,  he  asked  the  complainant  to  write 
his  name  in  a  certain  place  on  the  paper  form.  He 
did  so. 


74 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


“What  did  he  strike  you  with?”  asked  the 
magistrate. 

“I  do  not  know  anything  but  his  fists.” 

“And  did  his  fists  produce  all  that  bleeding?”  the 
justice  asked. 

“He  pulled  something  on  to  his  hands,  but  as  it 
was  dark  in  the  room  I  cannot  say  for  certain.” 

“Well,”  said  the  magistrate,  “return  on  Monday, 
and  you  will  hear  what  to  do.” 

On  the  following  Saturday  as  the  traveller’s 
buggy  came  up  for  him,  at  the  station,  two  men 
started  after  the  buggy.  The  driver  trembled; 
but  the  traveller  asked  him  to  stop  the  vehicle,  and 
turning  opened  the  window,  and  asked  the  two  men 
what  they  wanted.  They  turned  back.  On  reach¬ 
ing  the  office  of  the  magistrate  on  Monday  the  aged 
traveller  confronted  the  two  men  with  the  charge 
of  intimidation. 

((He  stopped  my  peaceable  journey,”  he  said, 
pointing  to  one  of  them;  “and  that  one  said  that 
before  I  can  get  redress,  they  will  do  for  me.” 

The  man  shook  his  finger  at  the  speaker. 

“He  is  shaking  his  finger  at  me  now,”  said  the 
traveller. 

The  trial  was  put  off  in  order  that  defendant 
might  summon  certain  witnesses.  When  the  time  for 
trial  came  the  complainant’s  wife  was  lying  dead  in 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


75 


a  far  off  city.  Leave  had  been  granted  by  the 
magistrate  to  go  and  bury  her.  On  the  way  back 
the  attorney  was  on  the  car  with  a  bottle  of  drink, 
and  in  company  of  two  other  men.  They  had  left 
their  car  and  entered  the  Negro  car  in  order  not 
to  defile  themselves.  The  writer  read  since  that 
strict  laws  were  afterwards  enacted  to  put  an  end 
to  such  car  entering,  refusal  to  give  notice  of  delay 
of  trains,  purity  of  water-drinking  on  trains,  polite¬ 
ness  on  the  part  of  railroad  employes,  and  cleanli¬ 
ness  of  trains. 

But  at  that  time  any  one  of  the  gentry  might 
enter  any  Negro  train,  and  do  almost  as  he  pleased. 
Hence  the  drinking  on  this  occasion,  and  the  notice 
from  the  lady  that  the  traveller  was  in  the  hands 
of  solicitor  Esaes.  The  train  reached  its  destina¬ 
tion  and  the  occupants  dispersed.  At  last  the  day 
of  trial  came. 

The  traveller,  upon  receiving  the  blow  had  writ¬ 
ten  in  his  diary  the  necessary  information  of  the 
whole  affair;  and  this  he  had  shewed  to  the  magis¬ 
trate  who  issued  the  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  the 
assailants.  A  copy  was  immediately  afterwards 
dispatched  to  England,  another  to  Washington,  and 
a  third  to  the  consul  near,  and  events  awaited. 
When  the  issuance  of  the  notice  of  the  intended 
arrest  of  the  traveller  reached  him,  he  immediately 


76 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


repaired  to  the  office  of  the  magistrate.  That 
gentleman  said  he  did  not  remember  how  he  wrote, 
but  that  the  assailant  of  the  traveller  had  been 
to  him,  and  that  the  magistrate  had  refused  to 
issue  the  warrant;  that  the  magistrate  had  told 
him  he  had  better  beware  what  he  did;  for  that 
the  traveller  was  no  fool;  that  the  assailant  had 
gone  to  another  magistrate  who  might,  perhaps, 
issue  the  license  to  take  the  traveller  prisoner.  He 
added  to  the  assailant  that  perjury  was  a  hard 
thing  to  prove,  as  it  depended  largely  on  the  in¬ 
tention  of  the  person;  that,  in  this  instance,  the 
traveller  had  not  been  sworn,  and  therefore  had 
committed  no  perjury;  that  the  form  of  warrant 
had  been  inserted  in  the  paper  after  the  signature; 
and  that  it  was  evident  that  a  mean  advantage  was 
being  taken  of  a  stranger  by  men  who  had  no 
principle. 

These  remonstrances  had  no  effect  as  we  have 
seen. 

A  cable  message  had  been  sent  from  England  to 
Washington;  thence  to  the  consul,  and  thence  to 
the  county  of  Tigre  where  the  matter  was  sub 
judice.  And  a  special  letter  had  been  sent  to  the 
magistrate  by  the  head  man  of  the  village,  declar¬ 
ing  that  the  traveller  was  “sassy,”  and  ought  to 
be  discouraged. 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


77 


Take  it  and  read  it,”  said  the  magistrate,  “we 
do  not  try  cases  here  by  color,  but  by  proof.  But 
what  a  rumpus,  have  you  been  making  here.  They 
have  been  cabling  from  England  about  you  saying 
they  wanted  a  fair  trial.” 

“No  true  bill!”  was  the  verdict  of  the  grand  jury 
in  the  case  of  the  traveller  vs.  the  assailant. 

That  very  afternoon  he  was  a  prisoner.  The 
only  minister  of  the  gospel  on  whom  he  should  rely 
refused  even  to  consider  whether  he  would  go  on 
the  traveller’s  bond.  One  man,  a  pure  stranger, 
stood  for  him.  Nor  was  there  a  single  person  in 
the  whole  length  of  North  America  to  whom  he 
could  look  in  case  of  proved  perjury.  His  busi¬ 
ness  was  scattered.  His  property  interests  were, 
as  it  turned  out  afterwards,  in  the  hands  of  a 
dishonest  man  who  killed  himself  to  escape  the 
penalties  of  the  law  a  second  time. 

In  this  dilemma  he  had  written  his  will,  and  pre¬ 
pared  for  the  worst.  The  people  were,  indeed,  like 
sheep  without  a  shepherd.  The  vote  of  the  elec¬ 
torate  chose  the  magistrate,  and  his  action  was 
largely  at  the  dictation  of  the  people — the  electorate. 

The  magistrate  arrived  at  last  from  somewhere, 
and  accepted  bond. 

The  traveller  had  to  wait  until  the  case  was 
heard  before  he  could  go  on  his  journey.  Yet 


78 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


he  was  calm  and  apparently  unconcerned ;  but  there 
burned  in  his  breast  such  a  desire  for  vengeance 
against  his  persecutors  as  nothing  could  quench. 

Everything  being  ready,  a  lawyer,  who  had  been 
lately  relieved  from  suspension,  took  the  case  for 
$10.00. 

The  former  magistrate  had  sent  a  bondsman  to 
the  traveller  to  advise  him  not  to  utter  a  word  in 
court;  for  that  the  very  manner  of  his  independence 
of  spirit  aroused  his  persecutors.  He  added,  that 
the  magistrate  himself  would  appear  as  witness  for 
the  traveller,  and  that  if  the  case  was  lost  by  the 
ruffian  assailant  the  traveller  would  be  murdered 
immediately  by  him. 

But  the  uninstructed  lawyer  had  to  be  advised. 
The  witnesses  for  the  prosecution  had  to  be  cross 
questioned,  and  the  utter  malice  of  the  proceedings 
had  to  be  exposed. 

The  prosecutor  sworn,  said:  “My  name  is  Somers 
Nestor.  I  hired  a  buggy  to  the  defendant,  Magis- 
ter,  a  day  before  New  Year.  He  brought  the 
turnout  back  late,  and  I  asked  him  what  detained 
him  so  long,  and  he  put  his  hand  on  his  hip  pocket. 
I  then  struck  him  with  my  fist,  believing  that  he 
was  going  to  pull  out  a  pistol.” 

“Ask  him,”  said  Magister,  “what  he  said  when 
I  returned.” 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


79 


What  did  he  say  to  you,  when  he  returned  an¬ 
swer  to  you  that  the  note  would  explain?” 

Somers  did  not  answer.  “Ask  him,”  said  Magis- 

ter,  who  was  the  person  that  borrowed  the  chair 
from  him?” 

“Who  was  the  person,”  said  the  lawyer,  “that 
borrowed  the  chair  from  you?” 

“Rev.  Turabout,”  was  the  reply. 

“Did  not  Magister  tell  you  that  he  had  been 
delayed  ?” 

“Yes.” 

“Why  did  you  strike  him  then?” 

“I  thought  he  was  going  to  shoot  me.” 

Is  he  in  the  habit  of  shooting?” 

No  answer. 

“Call  the  next  witness,”  said  the  magistrate. 

“Egbert  Dawkins.” 

Dawkins  appeared. 

“Do  you  know  Magister  here?”  said  the  magis¬ 
trate. 

“Yes,”  said  Dawkins. 

Ask  him  questions,”  said  the  magistrate. 

Were  you  not  present  when  Somers  Nestor 
struck  Magister?” 

“Yes.” 

“Ask  him  what  he  said  when  Nestor  called  to 
him  to  lend  him  his  gun,”  whispered  Magister. 


8o 


GodJs  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


“What  did  Somers  say  to  you,”  asked  the  law¬ 
yer. 

“He  asked  me  to  lend  him  my  gun,”  said  Egbert. 

“Did  Magister  appear  worked  up  or  quiet?”  said 
the  lawyer. 

“He  was  very  calm,”  said  Egbert. 

“And  did  he  say  anything?” 

“Yes;  he  said,  ‘You  will  pay  for  this,  gentle¬ 
men.’  ” 

“You  may  stand  aside,”  said  the  lawyer. 

“Call  the  next  witness!”  said  the  magistrate. 

“Dr.  Mooney!” 

When  Dr.  Mooney  appeared,  he  was  asked  if  he 
knew  Magister. 

“Yes.” 

“Did  you  dress  a  wound  on  his  face  about  the 
31st  day  of  December  last,”  asked  the  lawyer. 

“I  did.” 

“Was  the  wound  made  by  brass  knuckles?”  in¬ 
quired  the  lawyer. 

“I  cannot  say,”  said  the  doctor. 

“Could  such  a  wound  have  been  made  by  the 
knuckles  of  the  fist  if  the  person  inflicting  the 
wound  was  thin,”  asked  the  lawyer. 

“It  could,”  said  the  doctor. 

“Ask  him,”  said  Magister  eagerly,  “if  he  did 
not  tell  me  he  put  on  an  antiseptic.” 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


81 


Did  you  put  on  an  antiseptic  on  the  wound?” 
asked  the  lawyer. 

“I  did.” 

Does  not  that  shew  that  you  feared  blood-poison- 
•  * 
ing? 

“It  does.” 

“Was  any  punishment  inflicted  on  the  prose¬ 
cutor  ?”  asked  the  lawyer. 

He  was  find  $5,  for  a  breach  of  the  peace,  in 
the  intendant’s  court.” 

“Who  is  treasurer?”  asked  the  defendant  of  the 
lawyer. 

“Who  was  treasurer  of  that  court?” 

“He  is  treasurer,”  said  the  doctor. 

Ask  him  if  the  fine  was  paid!”  whispered  the 
defendant. 

“Was  the  fine  paid?”  resumed  the  lawyer. 

I  cannot  say,”  said  the  doctor. 

The  next  witness  was  called. 

Magistrate  number  one  was  in  court,  and  was 
asked  if  he  would  testify. 

He  took  the  oath. 

“Do  you  know  the  defendant  in  this  case?”  asked 
the  lawyer. 

I  do.  Magister  came  to  me  with  a  wound 
plastered  under  his  eye,  and  about  three  inches  long, 
on  the  left  cheekbone,  yet  running  corruption,  on 


82 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


the  first  day  of  January,  and  told  me  that  the 
attorney  had  ordered  that  the  assailants  of  the  com¬ 
plainant  be  arrested  for  assault  and  battery.  As 
Magister  said  he  had  a  sick  wife,  and  desired  to 
leave  by  train,  I  told  him  to  sign  the  form  for  such 
purposes,  and  I  would  see  after  the  matter. 

“You  did  not  then  read  over  to  him  what  you 
had  written?” 

“No !  he  was  gone.” 

“They  cannot  touch  you  for  perjury  to  save  their 
lives!”  exclaimed  the  lawyer. 

Egbert  was  again  called,  and  asked  if  Magister 
was  rude  or  excited. 

“He  was  very  calm!”  said  Egbert. 

“I  will  reserve  judgment,”  said  the  magistrate. 

The  court  is  adjourned.  The  defendant  is  out 
on  his  own  recognisances.” 

“Come  to  me  on  Wednesday!”  he  said  to  Magis¬ 
ter.  “Wait,”  he  added.  “Let  me  speak  to  you  in 
my  office.  Where  did  you  come  from  here?  Where 
were  you  born?  How  long  have  you  been  in  this 
country?” 

These  questions  having  been  answered — “Go  to 
California,”  said  he,  “if  you  like.  This  man  had 
said  that  if  the  case  went  against  him  he  would 
shoot  you  on  the  spot,  and,  as  he  is  a  desperate 
character,  I  thought  it  better  to  dismiss  as  I  did; 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


83 


for  your  heirs  could  be  the  only  beneficiaries  in  the 
event  he  had  carried  out  the  threat.” 

On  leaving  court,  Magister  wondered  where  to 
go.  The  resting  places  gave  no  rest  to  the  weary 
traveller,  and  the  Negroes  were  scared  to  death. 
The  secret  manner  in  which  the  case  had  been  dis¬ 
missed  prevented  any  but  the  specially  informed 
from  knowing  results. 

He  went  to  a  house  of  a  set  of  females,  and 
offered  them  money  for  a  nights  lodging.  The  only 
person  who  could  have  vouched  for  his  good  charac¬ 
ter  and  address  shrank  from  doing  so,  partly  from 
fear,  and  partly  from  malice. 

On  going  to  the  church  on  the  following  Sab¬ 
bath,  Magister  was  accosted  by  a  member  of  his 
flock,  in  this  wise: — “Miss  Betty  was  talking  to  me 
about  you  and  said  to  tell  you  you  ain’t  in  the 
hands  of  Professor  Swiss  now,  but  in  the  hands 
of  Solicitor  Esaes.” 

“Did  she?”  asked  Magister.  “And  who  is  Miss 
Betty,  pray?” 

“The  lady  I  work  for.  You  got  out  clear  from 
Professor  Swiss,  and  Miss  Betty  thought  that  was 
not  fair,  so  she  was  mighty  glad  when  Solicitor 
Esaes  took  this  case  up.” 

But  when  the  traveller  made  no  reply,  she  added, 
“But  I  am  nothing  to  do  with  it,  though.” 


84 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


“Why  do  you  talk  about  it  then?”  asked  the 
traveller. 

“Well,”  said  the  woman,  “Miss  Betty  asked  me 
to  tell  you.” 

“Tell  Miss  Betty,”  said  he,  “that  I  am  out  of 
the  hands  of  Solicitor  Esaes.” 

On  going  to  his  headquarters,  he  was  asked  by  a 
merchant  to  sit  down  at  his  store  door. 

“I  have  heard,”  said  the  merchant,  “some  strange 
things  about  you.  Read  this  newspaper.” 

He  put  the  paper  into  the  hands  of  the  traveller. 

“Keep  that  paper/”  said  the  merchant,  “and  use 
it  in  future  for  your  protection.  I  read  it  with 
satisfaction.” 

Magister  took  the  paper  and  read — 

“The  case  for  perjury  against  Rev.  Thomas 
Magister  was  dismissed  by  the  magistrate  on  Tues¬ 
day.” 

These  words  were  printed  in  very  small  type 
and  not  in  the  flaring  headlines  used  in  the  case 
before. 

Thus  tardy  justice,  slower  than  tardy  truth, 
asserted  itself  at  last. 

“You  must  leave  this  district,”  said  a  Methodist 
minister  to  the  traveller,  one  day. 

“Why?” 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


85 


“Because  they  are  going  to  lynch  you  if  you 
stay.” 

“Who  will  lynch  me?” 

“The  factory  hands,”  he  said. 

“Why?” 

“They  say  you  took  away  a  split  rail  from  a 
white  woman.” 

“Where?” 

“In  your  yard.  You  had  better  leave  this  house 
to-night!” 

“I  rented  this  house,  and  paid  $ - a  month  for 

its  use.  Right  here  will  I  stay  then.” 

On  Sunday  he  went  to  his  work. 

On  Monday  morning  a  young  girl  came  and  said : 
“A  white  man  is  out  here  wanting  to  see  you.” 

“A  white  man!”  he  said.  “I  have  no  business 
with  any  white  man.” 

He  got  up  from  the  table  and  went  to  the  door. 

“How  d’ye  do  ?”  said  the  white  man. 

The  traveller  gave  no  answer. 

“I  am  quite  well,”  the  white  man  said. 

“I  did  not  ask  you  how  you  were,”  said  the 
traveller. 

“You  wrote  a  letter  to  the  mayor  defaming  a 
white  lady’s  character,”  said  he. 

“Have  you  seen  the  letter?”  asked  the  traveller. 

“Yes,  I  saw  it.” 


86 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


“What  are  you  asking  about  it  then?” 

“Well,  you  have  got  yourself  into  a  God  d - 

state  of  things!”  growled  the  white  man. 

“Wait  a  minute,”  said  the  traveller. 

He  turned  into  the  house,  opened  a  drawer,  and 
took  out  a  pistol. 

Holding  it  in  his  hand,  he  said  pointing  it  full 
at  the  man — “Tell  me  all  you  have  to  say!  You 
came  here  to  threaten  my  life.  Look  at  me,  and 
see  if  I  cannot  look  at  you  any  length  of  time 
without  winking!” 

“Don’t  you  be  telling,”  exclaimed  the  white  man, 
retreating. 

“Tell  me  what  I  must  not  be  telling.  Far  away 
from  here  I  heard  what  I  was  to  expect,  and  I  am 
here  to  get  it.  Is  this  your  Christian  civilization? 
I  will  immediately  put  the  matter  into  the  mayors 
hands.” 

He  turned  into  the  house,  got  a  black  travel¬ 
ling  bag,  put  a  pistol  into  it,  and  left  for  up¬ 
town. 

“Where  is  the  mayor?”  he  asked  a  policeman. 

“He  has  gone  to  S - ,”  he  answered. 

“I  have  some  business  with  him.” 

“What  is  it?” 

“A  white  man  has  just  been  threatening  my  life,” 
said  the  traveller. 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


87 


“We  will  give  you  the  same  protection  we  give 
any  one  else!”  said  the  officer. 

“I  do  not  ask  any  protection,”  said  the  traveller. 
“I  will  sell  my  life  as  dearly  as  possible.” 

He  returned  home  and  continued  his  work. 
There  was  not  a  single  Negro  when  the  white 
man  came.  There  were  several  in  the  space  of  a 
few  minutes.  From  one  of  them  the  traveller  bor¬ 
rowed  a  repeating  rifle,  and  to  this  he  added  a 
sharp  butcher’s  knife,  and  a  razor.  These  were 
carefully  put  on  the  floor  at  the  head  of  his  bed, 
and  chairs  put  as  barricades  to  the  door.  He  then 
prayed  for  strength  and  protection,  and  prepared 
to  go  to  bed.  A  chapter  was  read,  and  prayer 
offered.  The  niece  retired  to  another  room,  and 
he  lay  down,  after  carefully  examining  the  pistol. 
As  he  was  a  very  good  sleeper,  he  feared  much  that 
he  could  not  be  easily  awaked.  But  no  one  came, 
and  the  sun  arose  on  a  peaceful  landscape.  The 
man  who  called  himself  a  Methodist  preacher  never 
appeared  again.  The  white  woman  was  asked  to 
give  up  the  house.  The  traveller  kept  the  same 
careful  preparations  as  before;  but  after  a  while 
another  ruse  was  tried. 

On  arriving  home  one  day,  the  girl  said  that 
the  factory  hands  were  coming  to  lynch  him.  “Let 
them  come!”  he  said,  and  went  on  with  his  work. 


88 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


On  arriving  at  a  house  a  woman  said  that  Miss - 

told  her  he  would  be  soon  in  the  hands  of  Solicitor 
Sease. 

“And  what  does  he  want  to  get  me  into  his 
hands  for?”  asked  the  traveller.  “They  say  you 
went  where  you  had  no  business,”  she  answered. 

“And  where  is  that?” 

“You  will  hear  from  some  one  else,”  she  said. 
“But  I  am  nothing  to  do  with  it.  She  only  asked 
me  to  tell  you.  I  am  nothing  to  do  with  it.  I 
do  not  want  to  have  anything  to  do  with  these 
white  people.” 

“Why,  then,  are  you  so  anxious  to  tell?” 

“Because  they  will  hurt  you.” 

He  left  for  his  work.  This  was  Sunday  morning. 
On  Monday,  the  man  of  the  town  employed  as  Con¬ 
stable,  came  and  said  that  the  intendant  wanted 
him. 

“What  for?” 

“For  going  where  you  had  no  business.” 

“All  right.  I  have  some  business  with  the  minis¬ 
ter  of  the  town.  Take  me  there,  please.” 

They  were  accompanied  by  a  church  officer  whose 
curiosity  overcame  his  fear. 

On  arriving,  the  ecclesiastic  discovered  great  sur¬ 
prise,  and  seriousness. 

“I  have  never  heard  a  word  of  this,”  he  said. 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


89 


“Had  you  not  better  avoid  a  trial,  and  compromise  ?” 

“I  never  compromise  with  anybody,”  answered 
the  traveller. 

“But  you  have  a  white  woman  against  you,  as 
I  understand,  and  you  have  little  chance  of  escape.” 

“I  have  all  the  chance  that  truth  obtains,”  an¬ 
swered  the  traveller. 

“Very  well,  then,  we  will  go  on  to  the  intendant.” 

Arrived,  seven  or  eight  young  men  with  ropes  in 
their  hands  were  dawdling  around.  The  traveller 
eyed  them  angrily;  the  minister  with  doubt. 

“Who  is  the  accuser?”  he  asked. 

“The  lady  that  saw  him,”  said  the  constable. 

“Where  is  her  brother?  I  will  see  him"  said 
the  minister,  and  he  spied  where  he  stood  and 
beckoned  to  him. 

“Let  me  speak  with  you!”  he  said. 

For  half  an  hour  they  argued.  The  brother’s 
voice  became  louder.  “I  will  punish  him  to  the 
utmost  limit  of  the  law,”  he  gesticulated. 

“But  are  you  sure?”  said  the  minister  in  earnest. 

“I  have  witnesses.” 

At  last  the  intendant  arrived,  and  the  case  was 
called. 

“Magister!”  cried  some  one.  The  traveller  went 
up  the  stairs  into  a  hall,  where  sat  several  men. 

“Read  the  charge!”  said  the  intendant. 


go 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


“Guilty  or  not  guilty,”  said  the  clerk. 

“About  what?”  asked  Magister.  “I  want  to 
know  who  accuses  me,  what  I  am  said  to  have 
done,  who  saw  me,  when,  and  who  are  the  wit¬ 
nesses.” 

“Very  well,  send  and  get  her  evidence.” 

“You  will  have  no  evidence  against  me,”  re¬ 
joined  the  traveller,  “unless  you  confront  me  with 
my  accuser.” 

“Call  her  then.” 

She  came,  a  girl  about  21  years  of  age,  or  less. 

Her  evidence  was  taken,  and  the  traveller  was 
told  to  ask  her  questions. 

“What  have  I  done  to  you?”  he  asked. 

“Nothing,”  she  replied. 

“Why  have  you  brought  me  here  then?” 

“I  saw  you  where  you  had  no  business.” 

“When?  On  what  day?” 

“On  a  Wednesday  six  weeks  ago.” 

Instantly  the  almanac  was  searched  by  the  judges, 
while  the  day  book  the  young  man  carried  was 
eagerly  examined  by  the  accused. 

On  that  Wednesday,  he  was  sick  9  miles  away, 
was  seen  by  a  doctor,  and  now  shewed  the  post¬ 
master’s  receipt  for  a  money  order  sent  then  to 
Boston,  Mass.  Not  only  so,  but  he  had  been 
steadily  refused  when  he  asked  to  cross  that  land 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


91 


when  journeying;  and  the  testimony  given  by  the 
mother  of  the  girl  was  to  the  effect  that  Magister 
was  a  good  man. 

The  brother  was  called.  A  copy  of  the  trial 
had  been  asked  by  the  traveller,  and  he  had  been 
answered  that  they  did  not  give  copies. 

“I  will  make  a  copy  then  myself,”  he  said.  Bor¬ 
rowing  paper  of  the  clerk,  and  filling  his  fountain 
pen  with  ink,  he  stood  up,  and  took  the  testimony 
of  the  witnesses. 

“Ask  him  questions,”  said  the  intendant,  as  soon 
as  the  brother  had  been  sworn. 

“Do  you  prosecute  this  case,”  asked  the  traveller. 

“What  do  you  mean?”  said  the  brother. 

“Just  what  I  said!”  answered  the  traveller. 

“I  do  not  understand  you,”  said  the  intendant. 

“I  mean  what  I  said.  Did  you  see  me  at  that 
place?” 

“No.” 

“I  have  nothing  further  to  ask  him,”  said  the 
traveller. 

The  men  looked  at  each  other. 

“I  do  not  want  this  man  to  trespass  on  those 
grounds,  and  I  want  you  to  forbid  him,”  declared 
the  brother. 

“You  will  please  call  the  next  witness.” 

The  female  that  came  declared  Magister  to  be 


92 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


a  perfect  Christian  gentleman,  incapable  of  doing 
a  mean  act. 

“I  know  he  is  a  perfect  Christian  gentleman,” 
answered  the  brother. 

A  girl  was  called.  Her  short  hair,  dogged  ex¬ 
pression,  and  determined  look,  ill-boded  conviction 
of  one  who  had  been  partly  exonerated  already. 

“Mr.  Magister  is  a  good  man,”  she  blurted  out, 
“and  I  never  saw  him  anywhere.” 

“Have  you  any  further  witnesses?”  asked  the  in- 
tendant. 

“None,  your  honor,”  said  the  brother. 

The  witnesses  had  been  dismissed,  and  the 
brother  and  Magister  were  asked  to  go  outside. 

Down  the  stairs  he  started. 

“Let  us  have  your  day-book!”  asked  one. 

He  gave  it.  On  going  outside,  however,  the  wife 
of  the  church  officer  bade  him  watch  them  examine 
it. 

He  accordingly  returned,  and  made  the  request. 

“Of  course,”  they  said. 

They  searched  through  it. 

After  a  time  he  was  again  dismissed. 

Called  in  again,  he  stood  up  to  hear  them. 

“We  fail  to  find  you  guilty  of  the  charge.” 

“As  to  the  request  that  you  do  not  trespass  on 
those  grounds,  you  can  go  where  you  please.” 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


93 


“Thanks,  gentlemen!”  said  the  traveller.  “I  will 
never  cross  his  premises.” 

“I  knew  you  would  beat  them  out!”  shouted 
the  officer’s  wife. 

“I  can  only  stand  by  you  to  the  last!”  sympathised 
the  friend  with  her. 

He  thanked  them,  (as  the  intendant  put  his  hand 
on  his  lips  in  a  warning  gesture  to  the  women, )  and 
left  in  a  buggy  for  a  distant  call. 

The  young  men  with  the  ropes  had  disappeared, 
but  the  traveller  had  the  clerk  of  the  court  to  give 
him  a  testimonial  as  to  the  nature  of  the  trial,  and 
the  minister  to  make  a  statement  about  it. 

This  was  necessary:  for  on  getting  to  the  church 
court  the  man — a  Negro  minister — who  had  been 
the  cause  of  all  this  trouble  had  so  impressed  an 
enemy  of  Magister  that  the  latter  was  a  bully,  that 
the  former  said  some  things  had  happened  to  him 
which  were  very  damaging. 

“What  things?”  asked  Magister. 

“I  will  tell  you,”  said  the  enemy. 

On  this  Magister  asked  the  privilege  of  the  floor, 
and  said,  “I  am  a  member  of  this  body:  am  I  not, 
sir?” 

“You  are.” 

“This  brother  has  said,  publicly,  that  some  things 
have  happened  on  my  field,  calculated  to  hurt  me 


94 


God’s  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


worse  than  anything  he  could  do  to  me.  Will  you 
make  him  explain?” 

“I  will  see  you  privately,”  said  the  enemy. 

“No  sir!  State  it  now.” 

“I  will  see  you,”  he  said. 

“Mr.  Chairman — I  have  in  my  grip  yonder, 
something  calculated  to  confound  any  such  persons 
as  this  enemy,”  said  Magister.  “Come  with  me!” 

He  followed;  the  portmanteau  was  opened,  and 
the  two  credentials  exhibited. 

He  read. 

“That  is  excellent,”  he  said.  “Keep  that.” 

“I  will  now  bring  a  charge  against  you  for  vilifica¬ 
tion  of  character!”  said  Magister. 

“Look  here,  Magister,”  said  he,  “7  have  spoken 
against  you  and  you  against  me.  Let’s  be  quits.” 

They  returned.  The  business  of  the  meeting 
being  over,  each  returned  to  his  place. 

The  prejudice,  shewn  by  the  great,  induced  the 
traveller  to  leave  for  other  parts.  Arrived  at  a 
certain  town,  he  was  so  hungry,  a  cake  being  the 
sole  means  of  support  for  a  journey  of  2,000  miles, 
that  he  ventured  into  a  railroad  restaurant  to  ask 
for  something  to  eat.  A  man  put  his  hands  on  his 

shoulder  and  said,  “What  do  you  want,  my  friend?” 

* 

“I  am  hungry,  and  am  seeking  some  one  to  tell 
me  where  to  get  something  to  eat.” 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


95 


“If  you  will  go  around  there,  they  will  give  you,” 
answered  the  gentleman. 

“Where?”  asked  his  companion  in  travel.  “Some¬ 
where,”  said  the  traveller. 

By  this  time  a  constable  was  near. 

“What  want  you?”  he  asked. 

“We  are  travelling,  and  looking  for  some  place 
to  get  a  meal,”  said  the  companion. 

If  you  will  go  to  the  kitchen  you  will  get  some¬ 
thing!” 

“We  are  not  kitchen  men,”  rejoined  the  com¬ 
panion. 

“I  don’t  care,”  said  the  constable. 

The  two  men  passed.  Though  deadly  enemies 
they  were  one  in  need,  in  travel,  and  in  misery. 
They  parted  after  some  distance  each  one  continu¬ 
ing  his  journey.  By  nine  o’clock  next  morning  the 
traveller  arrived  at  Grandport,  and  took  train  for 
a  city  northwards.  As  many  passengers,  not  afraid 
to  have  themselves  defiled  by  color,  were  going  in 
that  direction ;  conversation  quickly  began,  and,  upon 
stating,  that  he  was  hungry,  several  ladies  gave  him 
all  the  remaining  food  they  had.  He  ate  greedily, 
and  drank  some  water.  After  business  he  went  to 
an  eastern  city,  visited  old  seats,  and  returned  to  a 
southern  town.  It  was  rumored  that  a  wedding 
was  to  take  place  there  in  “the  church  of  God.” 


96 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


Weddings  are  so  common  in  some  places  that  they 
stir  no  unusual  interest;  but  this  was  a  wedding 
in  which  Jews  and  Gentiles  were  equally  interested. 
A  special  invitation  was  given  to  the  traveller,  and 
an  equally  pressing  invitation  was  accorded  the  pub¬ 
lic  by  itself.  The  room  was  full  within  an  hour 
after  the  opening.  A  friend  introduced  the  traveller. 
The  church  of  God  was  founded  on  the  book  of 
Acts;  but  tho’  so  founded,  it  has  new  explanations 
of  the  Old  Testament;  as,  for  instance,  Abraham 
and  Sarah.  “The  very  faithful  man  of  the  church 
is  called  ‘Father  Abraham,’  ”  the  friend  said. 
“When  he  was  introduced  as  Mr.  Cole,  I  so  re¬ 
garded  him.  But  soon  after  he  was  called  ‘Father 
Abraham.’  ‘Father  Abraham?’  said  I. 

“  ‘Yes,’  was  the  answer.” 

Mrs.  Stewart  was  an  old  lady.  Soon  after  she 
was  called  Sarah.  Sarah  went  and  kissed  Father 
Abraham  before  exercises  began.  He  said,  “Yes.” 

The  couple  delayed  two  hours  in  order  that  the 
aunt  of  the  bridegroom  might  be  present. 

The  bride  was  very  pretty,  and  not  more  than 
1 8  years  of  age.  The  groom  was,  perhaps,  19 
years  old.  The  auntie  was  a  very  large,  handsome, 
and  pleasant  looking  woman. 

The  elder  performed  the  ceremony. 

He  began  by  a  very  long  and  loud,  and  enthusi- 


The  Outlook  for  Peace 


97 


astic  symphonious  rendering  of  a  piece  that  God  did 
not  intend  that  man  should  .be  alone.  No  organ 
was  needed,  and  John  Calvin  could  not  have  been 
more  pleased  if  his  Institutes  were  being  read.  For 
he  hated  church  organs,  and  so  do  these  hate  them. 

The  minister  stood  afar  off  and  read,  unsteadily, 
the  2nd  chapter  of  Genesis  in  part.  He  then  asked 
the  bridegroom  if  he  would  have  the  woman  to 
be  his  wedded  wife,  and  forsaking  all  other,  cleave 
only  unto  her  as  long  as  they  both  should  live.  As 
the  “man”  did  not  answer,  the  elder  told  him  to 
say  “I  will.” 

“Then  take  her  by  the  right  hand!” 

He  did  so.  Unto  the  woman  the  elder  said, 
“Wilt  thou  have  this  man  to  be  thy  wedded  hus¬ 
band  ?  Wilt  thou  honor,  help,  and  obey  him,  and 
forsaking  all  other,  cleave  only  unto  him  as  long 
as  ye  both  shall  live?” 

She  did  not  answer,  and  the  minister  told  her 
to  say  “I  will.” 

The  singers  told  the  next  anthem  in  powerful 
fashion.  It  was  anti-phonal;  the  soprano  having 
some  words;  the  bass  certain  other,  and  a  kind  of 
tenor  answering  these  two.  The  words  were 

founded  on  a  passage  of  Scripture,  and  were  in  chant 
form. 

At  last  the  joining  was  over,  and  the  elder  pro- 


98 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


ceeded  to  congratulate  the  bride  with  a  kiss.  He 
exhorted  the  bridegroom  to  be  faithful,  and  the  bride 
to  stick  only  to  him. 

So  much  interest  had  been  shewn  in  this  marriage 
that  the  elder  remarked  that  only  on  two  occasions 
could  one  get  a  crowd — at  a  wedding,  when  there 
was  happiness  for  most,  and  at  a  funeral.  The 
traveller  nodded  assent.  Almost  all  the  rice  and 
lungs  having  been  used  up,  the  guests  of  fewer  days 
departed,  and  Magister  was  called  to  the  head  of 
the  table  as  honored  guest.  The  things  served  were 
very  simple  and  proper,  and  then  an  exordium  on 
color  ensued. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


WESTERN  JOURNEYING 
ALLED  some  time  after  to  see  some  men  at 


a  place  13  miles  distant,  the  traveller  went, 
a  number  of  Caucasians  being  present.  A  strange 
gentleman  was  called  on  to  speak  to  the  meeting. 
The  traveller  listened.  The  speaker  began:  “If  there 
is  one  thing  I  am  prouder  of  than  another,  it  is 
that  I  am  a  white  man.” 

The  traveller  thought  to  himself  that  the  speaker 
would  not  have  been  so  proud  in  Barbary  in  the 
13th  century,  at  a  pulley,  or  handling  the  oars. 

The  speaker  continued  that  all  possible  aid 
should  be  given  to  the  Negro  who  was  a  menace 
to  the  white  man  unless  he  was  educated.  Above 
all,  the  gospel  should  be  given  him,  in  order  to 
civilize  him,  and  to  keep  him  safe. 

“For  what  place?”  thought  the  traveller.  Upon 
returning,  a  mixed  coach  was  used.  The  traveller 
was  obliged  to  leave  the  town,  and  went  along 
with  the  Caucasians.  The  conductor  eyed  him 
for  some  time,  and  then  said, 

“You  will  have  to  go  in  front?” 

1  To  the  front  where?”  asked  the  traveller. 

“Through  that  door,”  said  the  conductor. 


99 


100 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


The  traveller  did  not  move.  He  was  thinking. 
Invited  to  a  meeting  of  Christian  ministers,  he  was 
obliged  to  hear  one  say  he  thanked  God  that  he 
was  a  white  man;  and  now  another  man  told  him 
to  go  in  front.  He  would  have  been  welcome  as 
an  ignorant  servant;  not  as  an  educated  Negro. 
He  might  worship  Jesus  Christ  apart,  and  if  he 
was  good,  he  could  go  to — where?  But  “God  is 
no  respector  of  persons,  but  in  every  nation  he  that 
feareth  God  is  accepted  of  Him.”  Was  this  true? 
he  thought. 

By  this  time  the  conductor  was  back. 

“I  want  to  treat  you  as  a  man,”  said  he. 

“I  asked  you  politely  to  go  in  front,  because  the 
state  laws  said  you  must.” 

Upon  this  Magister  rose  and  went.  The  place 
was  a  sleeping  room  for  rough  hands,  a  smoking 
room,  spitting,  and  jolly  room.  His  very  nature 
shrank  from  contact  with  the  smoke.  But  the  men 
had  been  apprised  and  they  smoked  harder  than 
ever.  He  went  out  to  the  platform,  but  they  fol¬ 
lowed  him  there.  At  last  they  tired  of  the  cold, 
and  returned,  and  he  stayed  there  until  he  could 
escape.  There  was  no  remedy,  for  he  had  no  wit¬ 
nesses,  and  he  was  not  white. 

Departing  for  a  city  farther  south,  the  car  was 
so  dirty  as  to  call  attention  and  remarks. 


Western  J ourneyings 


IOI 


A  railroad  “hand”  was  sitting  there  smoking. 

The  traveller  called  the  Negro  porter  and  asked 
him  to  stop  the  smoking. 

“Where  must  he  smoke  then?”  furiously  de¬ 
manded  that  worthy.  “Must  he  go  on  the  platform 
or  in  the  top  of  the  car?” 

Magister  did  not  answer.  He  waited  the  advent 
of  the  conductor.  That  gentleman  appeared  after 
a  bit,  and  seated  himself  as  usual,  in  the  front  seat 
of  the  Negro  car  but  one.  The  “hand”  continued 
smoking.  The  conductor  did  not. notice  it. 

“Do  you  allow  smoking  in  this  car?”  asked  the 
traveller.  “Who?  where?”  said  the  conductor. 

The  Negro  pulled  the  cigar  out  of  his  mouth. 
The  conductor  said — 

“Let  me  see  you  smoking  in  here  again!”  The 
porter’s  attention  was  called  to  the  condition  of  the 
car,  and  on  arriving  home  three  letters  were  sent, 
— one  to  the  president,  one  to  the  divisional  pas¬ 
senger  agent,  and  one  to  the  local  agent. 

After  a  time,  no  annoyance  from  smoking  was 
found,  and  a  polite  letter  was  received  from  the 
railroad. 

By  this  time  the  traveller  was  well  known  to  con¬ 
ductors  and  porters.  He  had  been  requested  to 
notice  and  report  irregularities;  and  he  could  en¬ 
gage  the  attention  and  interest  of  persons  so  well 


102 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


as  to  be  welcome.  On  going  east,  he  told  another 
conductor,  “I  want,  conductor,  to  speak  with  you 
privately.”  “Well,  here  I  am,”  said  that  gentleman. 

“Privately,”  rejoined  the  traveller.  “Well,  here 
I  am,”  said  the  conductor  louder. 

“If  that  be  so,”  said  Magister,  “I  have  been 
requested  by  the  union  to  notice  irregularities  as  to 
race  on  any  car  and  report  to  headquarters.” 

The  conductor  became  serious. 

“There  is  no  one  on  here  but  this  man  who  is  an 
engineer,  and  this  one  who  is  a  baggage  agent,  and 
this  gentleman  is  travelling  as  a  friend.” 

“I  am  not  worried  about  who’s  who,’  ”  rejoined 
Magister. 

The  men  went  out.  The  traveller  soon  found 
a  congenial  companion  who  had  travelled  in  the 
southwest,  and  whose  thoro’  education  as  a  general 
church  officer,  entitled  him  to  respect.  The  officer, 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Thompson,  D.D.,  travelled  in 
the  interest  of  the  Methodist  Church.  He  related 
the  following  story: 

“When  I  was  travelling  towards  California,  I 
was  very  hungry.  They  called  out  ‘Dinner  ready!’ 
and  I  longed  for  a  meal.  I  waited  until  all  had 
eaten,  and  asked  the  waiter  if  I  could  not  have 
something.  He  said,  ‘I  will  ask  the  conductor.’ 
That  worthy  said,  ‘No.’  I  had  been  refused  in  the 


IV ester n  J ourneyings 


presence  of  every  one,  and  in  the  presence  of  every 
one  I  said  what  I  wished. 

“Standing  in  the  aisle  of  the  car,  I  cried  out  ‘Hun¬ 
gry  !  hungry !  hungry !  at  the  top  of  my  voice. 
This  touched  the  hearts  of  those  who  had  eaten, 
and  they  told  the  conductor  that  if  he  did  not 
give  me  something  they  would  get  it  and  give  me 
themselves. 

Upon  this  he  ordered  a  meal  to  be  brought  to 
me,  and  I  ate  heartily.  The  14th  and  15th  amend¬ 
ments  to  the  U.  S.  Constitution  are  violated  com¬ 
monly,  without  redress,  and  yet  we  are  made  to 
pay  taxes  and  do  all  that  any  other  citizen  must  do 
in  support  of  the  government.  But  continual  com¬ 
plaints  and  ceaseless  agitation  will  improve  matters. 
For  God  helps  those  who  help  themselves.” 

Travelling  as  far  as  Cincinnati  and  westward 
the  traveller  was  returning  when  he  met  a  woman 
with  two  young  children  from  California.  She 
had  been  born  in  South  Carolina,  but  had  married 
in  California,  and  was  paying  her  last  visit  east¬ 
ward  in  order  to  see  a  very  much  beloved  grand¬ 
mother. 

“I  had  good  treatment,”  she  said,  “until  I  reached 
Cincinnati,  when  the  children  began  to  cry,  and 
I  asked  for  a  supper.  The  porter  told  me  I  must 
wait  till  the  white  people  had  finished  eating.  If 


104 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


you  had  not  given  the  children  something,  I  know 
not  what  we  would  have  done.  We  had  not 
eaten  since  we  left  St.  Louis.” 

We  made  sleeping  places  of  a  portmanteau,  a 
couple  of  overcoats,  and  wraps,  and  put  the  little 
ones  to  bed  on  the  seats.  The  jerking  of  the  un¬ 
comfortable  seats,  and  the  long  journey  already 
travelled,  made  the  traveller’s  limbs  ache;  his  body 
being  too  long  to  lay  down  to  repose,  and  prejudice 
being  too  great  to  enable  him  to  obtain  a  sleeper. 
Exhaustion  compelled  uncomfortable  sleep ;  and 
when  the  porter  announced  Scotsville,  as  the  next 
station,  a  hurried  dressing  was  the  consequence. 
Immediately  on  getting  off  the  train,  a  man  called 
for  luggage.  Passing  through  the  waiting  rooms  a 
little  boy  asked  the  traveller  if  he  wanted  a  con¬ 
veyance. 

“Yes;  please.” 

“Then  here’s  an  auto,”  he  said. 

The  driver  had  a  red  face,  a  turned  up  nose,  a 
thick-set  pugilistic  body,  and  a  sleepy  expression.  In 
ill-humor  he  asked,  “What  do  you  want?” 

“I  desire  to  get  near  the  water  works,”  said  he. 
“What  do  you  charge?” 

“A  dollar.” 

“Oh,  no;  they  charge  less  than  that.” 

“Go  about  your  business,  you  black  devil!  I  do 


IV estern  J ourneyings 


105 


not  want  to  carry  you  no  way,”  said  the  noble 
gentleman. 

And  this  at  Scotsville,  where  they  say  the  races 
are  so  pleasant,”  said  the  traveller. 

Turning,  he  saw  a  cabman.  He  related  what 
had  happened,  and  asked  what  man  it  was.  But 
the  auto  had  left. 

“I  will  carry  you  for  a  quarter,”  said  the  cabman. 
“I  know  you,  and  have  carried  you  before.  The 
streets  are  cut  up,  and  I’ll  have  to  go  around.  But 
tell  me  what  sort  of  man  was  he  who  insulted  you  ?” 

Describing  the  man  as  best  he  could,  he  received 
a  message  at  three  o’clock  that  day  saying  that 
the  man  was  discharged. 

Some  time  after  this  a  number  of  men  in  a  store 
were  discussing  whether  the  Negro  population 
would  ever  get  justice  here.  One  man  said  he  was 
looking  for  war  with  Germany  or  some  other  coun¬ 
try,  and  that  would  be  the  Negro’s  opportunity. 

“How  do  you  know?”  asked  another. 

“The  Mexicans  expect  aid  from  the  Germans, 
and  would  never  annoy  the  United  States  if  they 
did  not  have  an  eye  to  conquest.  And  what  will 
the  Negroes  do  then?” 

No  one  answered. 

“Providence  intends  justice  in  the  world,”  con¬ 
tinued  the  speaker,  “and  there  is  none  here.” 


io6 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


About  the  month  of  May  it  was  suddenly  an¬ 
nounced  that  England  and  Germany  were  “at 
outs,”  and  men  began  to  give  their  opinions  against 
monarchy. 

“But  what’s  your  republic  doing?”  asked  one  man. 
“I  would  become  a  British  subject  to-morrow.” 

“Takes  time,  my  friend,”  said  another.  “You 
have  to  wait  two  years  there.” 

A  great  many  men  were  called  from  the  north 
to  serve  their  nations  in  Europe,  and  Negroes  were 
asked  to  fill  their  places  there. 

“There  will  be  conscription,  I  think,”  said  one. 

“The  Germans  have  no  quarrel  with  us,”  said 
another. 

“But  you  will  be  bound  to  defend  your  home,” 
answered  a  third. 

“That’s  so;  but  we  are  not  satisfied,”  was  the 
rejoinder. 

“Did  you  see  what  was  in  the  papers  this  morn¬ 
ing?”  asked  John  Magdeburg,  as  he  stepped  into 
the  store. 

“What!  the  English  licked?”  laughed  one. 

“No,  worse  than  that!”  said  Magdeburg. 

“What  then?  Paris  taken?” 

“No,  they  have  set  fire  to  the  Negro  quarters  in 
East  St.  Louis,  and  burnt  or  killed  many.” 

“Don’t  tell  me.  I  reckon  not.  That  is  the  north.” 


CHAPTER  XIV 


PREJUDICE  AT  WORK 


“IV  TORT H  or  South;  it  has  happened.” 

“How  was  it?”  asked  one. 

“I  don’t  know,  you  will  get  perticklers  from  The 
Crisis.  But  the  Niggers  shore  done  burned,”  said 
Magdeburg. 

“Same  thing  I  was  a  saying  just  now,”  remarked 
one. 


“I  thought  they  had  called  the  colored  men  to  St. 
Louis  to  work,”  rejoined  a  stranger. 

“They  did,”  said  Magdeburg,  “but  they  called 
prejudice  from  elsewhere  too.  This  killing  is  the 
result  of  Negro  labor.  When  I  used  to  work  on 

the  railroad  at  C - ,  they  used  to  say  that  a 

nigger  was  no  better  than  a  rabbit.  You  could  hear 
them  men  talk  about  what  they  would  do  with  a 
nigger  if  they  got  the  chance.” 

“But  some  white  folks  love  niggers.” 

“How?”  asked  Magdeburg. 

“When  they  cook  for  them,  and  mind  their  chil¬ 
dren  well.” 

“Where’s  that?”  asked  Magdeburg. 

“Right  here  in  the  south.  The  black  mammy 


107 


io8 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


can  get  mos’  anything  she  wants  if  she  is  good  to 
mas’r  and  mistiss.” 

“And  what  about  her  daughter  that  plays  the 
piano?”  queried  Magdeburg. 

“They  jes’  don’t  like  her.” 

“Don’t  like  her,  man,  for  playing  the  piano? 
They  play  themselves.” 

“Ain’t  you  green?  Pianos  is  for  them,  not 
Negroes.” 

“Man  go  and  read  you’  Bible!”  said  Magdeburg. 

“Bible  ’bout  what?” 

“Moses  and  the  Ethiopian  woman  in  Genesis, 
and  Paul  in  Acts,”  said  Magdeburg. 

“You  are  a  Scripture  scholar;  I  am  not,  but  I 
know  white  folks.” 

“That’s  so,”  rejoined  the  first  speaker.  “It’s  a 
question  of  social  equality,  not  one  of  right.” 

“Democratic,  you  mean,”  said  Magdeburg. 

“Republican,  too.” 

“Will  they  try  the  burners?”  asked  Magdeburg. 

“They  may.  It  is  natural  they  should,  for  they 
have  burned  down  folks’  property,  and  that’s  worse 
than  killing  a  Negro,  you  know.” 

“Well,  we’ll  see;  but  talking’s  no  use.  You  see 
we  have  no  showing.” 

“Let’s  go  to  France.  You  can  get  justice  there.” 

The  men  separated.  By  Monday  there  was  a 


Prejudice  at  Work 


109 


Union  meeting  of  ministers,  and  the  travellers 
found,  on  entering,  two  visitors. 

One  of  these  was  a  doctor  somebody,  who  was 
asked  to  speak. 

He  said  that  the  killing  and  burning  in  East 
St.  Louis  was  necessary  that  some  men  and  women 
might  die  for  the  race,  and  that  the  whole  race 
perish  not.  He  had  been  on  the  spot,  and  had 
promised  to  get  the  scared  Negroes  to  go  back  if 
they  would  protect  them.” 

The  traveller  was  asked  to  respond. 

“I  do  not  know  what  prompts  the  remarks  of  the 
gentleman  who  just  sat  down,”  he  said.  “That 
opinion  was  used  by  the  Jews  when  they  wanted  to 
kill  Jesus  Christ.  They  killed  him,  and  are  getting 
their  deserts.” 

“It  took  40  years  before  they  got  them,  but  they 
got  them  at  last.  When  men  say  they  want  fair 
play  for  all  men,  and  then  proceed  to  kill  helpless 
and  quiet  Negroes,  they  are  asking  history  to  re¬ 
peat  itself.  History  repeats  itself,  and  we  will  have 
some  of  these  peoples  folks  killed  in  battle  yet. 
This  is  to  be  a  world  war.  New  kingdoms  and 
powers  must  come  out  of  it.  All  nations  must  suf¬ 
fer;  but  the  one  who  is  most  unjust  will  suffer 
most.  When  this  country  has  learned  to  be  just 
to  the  Negroes,  to  punish  them  for  their  crimes,  and 


I IO 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


reward  them  for  their  good  behaviour,  it  will  be 
truly  God’s  own,  and  the  awarder  of  righteousness.” 

The  brother  came  forward,  shook  hands,  and  said 
he  agreed  with  what  had  been  said.  Since  then 
it  has  been  said  that  the  culprits  will  be  brought  to 
justice. 


CHAPTER  XV 


THE  NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

IN  1891,  while  in  British  Guiana,  the  leading 
newspaper  of  that  province  published  an  article 
headed  with  the  words — Black  America.  So  strange 
a  title  led  the  writer  to  think  it  worth  buying  a 
copy  of  the  paper  to  be  kept  until  time  could  be 
found  for  reading  it.  On  perusing  the  article  a 
new  and  strange  world  seemed  to  open  up.  Could 
it  be  possible  that  “a  Negro”  was  hated  because 
he  was  not  white?  Birds,  horses,  dogs,  are  all 
petted,  and  have  no  prejudice  against  them.  Negroes 
often  believe  only  in  the  white  man.  The  more 
ignorant  he  the  more  confiding  in  the  Caucasian,  the 
less  trustful  of  his  own.  And  often  he  has  good 
reason.  If,  therefore,  he  trusts  the  Negro  less, 
and  the  white  man  more,  why  is  there  so  much 
prejudice  against  him?  It  is  not  because  he  does 
not  advance,  because  he  has  advanced  more  rapidly 
in  50  years  than  the  white  man  did  in  1,000.  Not 
because  he  is  not  adaptable,  because  he  is  called 
an  imitative  monkey.”  Nor  is  it  because  he  is  un¬ 
sociable,  for  he  will  tell  the  boss  any  and  every¬ 
thing  he  knows.  Not  because  his  women  are  un¬ 
acceptable,  for  the  mixed  colors  disprove  that;  and 


III 


1 12 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


Lord  Macaulay  has  shewn  in  his  criticism  of  Major 
Moody,  who,  with  a  gentleman,  by  name,  Mr. 
Dougan,  was  sent  to  Tortola  in  the  year  1821  to’ 
enquire  into  the  condition  of  the  lately  liberated 
and  apprenticed  slaves  there.  Mr.  Dougan  appears 
to  have  been  so  peculiarly  prejudiced  as  to  believe 
that  these  Negroes  were  his  fellow  creatures;  and 
this  delusion  Major  Moody  endeavored  to  palliate. 
It  appears  that  Major  Moody  shared  the  views  of 
certain  persons  who  despise,  contemn,  and  joyfully 
degrade  the  Negro;  and  this  Mr.  Dougan  could 
not  do.  It  appears,  moreover,  that  Mr.  Dougan 
in  his  examination  naturally  desired  an  apprentice 
to  take  a  seat,  instead  of  standing  up;  and  ven¬ 
tured  to  think  that  one  of  African  descent  was  en¬ 
titled  to  some  respect  in  the  presence  of  a  white 
person. 

This  prejudice  of  Mr.  Dougan’s  is  not  shared 
by  many  Christian  ministers.  The  writer  remem¬ 
bers  having  been  sent  by  a  superior  to  see  an  official 
in  a  great  town.  The  writer  approached  the  gentle¬ 
man  by  remarking  that  he  believed  he  had  the 
pleasure  of  approaching  Dr.  R - . 

“Yes,  and  what  is  it?”  said  Dr.  R - ,  gruffly. 

“I  am  the  bearer  of  a  message  from  Dr.  N - , 

asking  that  you  will  assist  me  in  getting  the  statis¬ 
tical  knowledge  necessary  to  my  work  herein.” 


The  Newspaper  Press 


113 

“Very  well!” 

Dr.  R -  never  asked  him  to  sit  down,  nor 

gave  any  idea  that  he  had  read  of  Jesus  Christ. 

On  another  occasion  the  writer  went  to  see  a 
famous  Christian  minister.  He  kept  him  at  the 
door,  until  the  former  reminded  him  that  he  had, 
in  former  days,  been  accustomed  to  much  different 
treatment.  The  minister  apologised  that  it  was 
dinner  time;  but  that  when  the  visitor  returned  he 
would  treat  him  better.  He  accordingly  took  him 
next  time  into  the  session  room,  and  let  him  sit 
while  session  was  going  on.  It  may  safely  be  said 
that  the  apprentice  of  Tortola  was  not  either  as 
educated  or  refined  as  the  Presbyterian  minister; 
and  that  Mr.  Dougan  had  gone  a  long  step  in  1821. 

What,  then,  is  the  cause  for  this  contempt  of  the 
Negro?  Is  it  not  that,  as  a  senator  is  reported  to 
have  said,  he  is  too  much  of  a  coward  ? 

Again:  when  a  newspaper  published  that  “a  cer¬ 
tain  Negro  has  been  accused  of  an  attack  on  a  cer¬ 
tain  woman,  and  that  if  he  is  caught,  he  will  be 
lynched,”  was  not  the  public  of  those  parts  pre¬ 
pared  for  the  lynching?  And  when  it  is  a  common 
newspaper  account  that  “the  Negro  was  caught, 
confessed,  and  was  lynched  by  a  respectable  set  of 
citizens,”  was  not  that  a  full  endorsement  of  lynch¬ 
ing? 


1 14  God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 

A  grand  headline  was  paraded  before  the  eyes 
of  its  readers  thus:  “A  Subject  of  King  Edward 
in  Trouble,”  and  in  smaller  letters,  “It  is  thought 
that  King  Edward  will  not  interfere.”  This  was 
read  and  attracted  much  attention;  but  when  the 
case  fell  to  the  ground  the  report  thereof  was  put 
at  the  end  of  the  paper  in  small  headline — “Case 
Dismissed.” 

Such  middle  class  writers,  grown  important  from 
chance,  do  much  harm  to  the  Negro.  They  never 
enter  a  cultivated  Negro  home,  except  for  bad  rea¬ 
sons,  and  these  cultivated  people  unwilling  to  ex¬ 
pose  themselves  to  insult,  shrink  from  the  presence 
of  their  tormentors.  A  soldier  bully  was  sent  to 

kill  the  writer  at  A - ,  and  would  probably  have 

done  so,  because  he  would  not  say  the  words  ordered, 
if  the  mistress  of  the  house  had  not  come  in  and 
ordered  the  soldier  out.  Upon  being  informed  that 
the  writer  was  a  British  subject,  and  very  deter¬ 
mined,  he  begged  that  he  would  not  prosecute  him; 
and  as  the  life  of  the  owner  of  the  restaurant  would 
be  endangered  by  prosecuting  the  soldier,  the  writer 
had  to  desist. 

The  Negro  press  of  the  country  was  called  into 
play  because  no  good  news  of  the  Negro  could  be 
found  in  a  white  newspaper  unless  there  was  also 
a  private  informer  saying  to  the  editor — “Give  us 


The  Newspaper  Press  115 

a  rest.”  But  if  there  were  any  accounts  of  Negro 
thieving,  murdering,  jailing,  or  some  fun  to  be  put 
at  the  expense  of  a  Negro  preacher,  it  went  in 
large  headlines  in  the  said  newspaper. 

But  neither  the  hatred  of  the  public,  nor  the  jeers 
of  the  great,  not  yet  the  ignorance  of  English, 
prevented  the  publication  of  the  Negro  newspaper. 
It  was  continued  until  it  had  highly  educated  and 
able  editors,  and  commanded  respect.  Assassination 
became,  then,  a  powerful  preventive.  As  that  Roman, 
when  asked  what  to  do  with  the  prisoners,  took 
the  messenger  into  the  field,  and  cut  off  the  heads 
of  the  tallest  papas;  as  the  principal  men  of  Calais 
were  ordered  to  come  with  ropes  round  their  necks; 
as  the  Bible  said,  “I  will  smite  the  shepherd,  and 
the  sheep  shall  be  scattered”;  so  the  ministers  of 
religion  have  been  the  principal  victims  of  the 
mob,  until  recently  there  came  the  news  that  one 
had  been  lynched  after  preaching,  on  the  recom¬ 
mendation  of  members  of  his  congregation. 

But  if  certain  newspapers  have  led  on  lynching, 
they  tell  little  or  nothing  of  when  the  Negro  de¬ 
fends  himself. 

On  the  other  hand  some  newspapers  have  hon¬ 
estly  defended  the  colored  people’s  rights,  and 
some  of  them  are  in  the  south.  Step  by  step,  public 
opinion  is  directed  to  their  wrongs;  and  men  are 


n6 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


going  around  preaching  their  rights.  After  a  time, 
it  will  be  talked  that  in  order  to  save  “ourselves” 
we  must  educate  the  Negro.  The  education  of  the 
fist  and  of  the  gun  may  be  superseded  by  that  of 
the  head  and  hand.  Fifteen  hundred  thousand 
workers  are  needed  as  teachers  and  preachers  in 
neglected  school  districts,  and  as  a  supply  for  killed 
and  wornout  workers.  New  Sabbath  schools  are 
being  continually  organized;  new  preaching  places 
opened  up.  And  much  interest  is  being  taken  in 
trades  in  the  secondary  schools.  These  all  point  to 
the  Negroes’  advancement  in  this  country.  Last, 
but  not  least,  the  Negro  music  of  America  has 
kept  him  cheerful  in  every  misfortune,  and  pro¬ 
duced  that  hopeful  outlook  at  things,  which  will 
enable  him  to  bear  sorrow.  This  is  acknowledged 
in  the  Literary  Digest  of  some  weeks  ago. 

The  charming  “spirituals”  have  kept  many  a 
church  lively;  and  contributed  to  its  future  success. 

While  making  these  animadversions,  the  news 
came  that  the  traveller’s  one  time  friendly  enemy 
was  at  the  door.  He  had  arrived  from  the  state 
in  which  the  traveller  had  lived  for  years,  and 
brought  a  message  that  the  persecutors  of  the 
traveller  had  sent  to  say  that  they  were  sorry  at 
his  leaving,  and  would  be  glad  to  see  him  return. 

“But  I  am  not  glad  to  see  myself  return,”  said 
the  traveller.  “Bad  as  things  are  here,  they  were 


Phe  Newspaper  Press 


117 

many  times  worse  there.  Here  white  and  colored 
ministers  meet  in  union,  and  unison,  and  we  are 
called  to  take  part  in  municipal  matters.  The  re¬ 
lations  between  the  races  are  very  much  improved, 
and  the  public  and  private  schools  are  in  excellent 
buildings.  There  is  no  Negro  district  in  this  city. 
There  is  no  complaint  in  town.  There  is,  indeed, 
an  island  on  which  no  Negro  is  to  be  a  purchaser, 
but  the  decision  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
will  largely  assist  in  removing  that  disability.  I 
would  not  be  understood  to  say,  however,  that  I 
favor  insolence,  or  promiscuous  intermingling  of 
Negroes  among  whites.  Just  let  the  matter  adjust 
itself  after  the  people  are  imbued  with  a  proper 
sense  of  right,  and  the  Negroes  have  that  proper 
behaviour  which  would  entitle  them  to  considera¬ 
tion.” 

But  it  is  a  long  time  before  they  will  get  fair 
treatment!”  answered  the  visitor. 

Just  then  there  came  news  that  a  mass  meeting 
of  citizens  was  to  be  held  in  order  to  stimulate 
patriotism  in  the  race.  The  meeting  was  called 
at  the  market  hall ;  and  the  speakers  were  chosen 
with  a  view  to  bringing  the  matter  before  the 
colored  people.  As  there  had  been  a  school  closing 
service  at  which  all  the  ministers  attended  by  in¬ 
vitation,  this  political  meeting  was  timed  one  hour 
after. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


SPECTERS  BEFORE  THE  EYES 

CERTAIN  amount  of  real  patriotism  per¬ 


vaded  the  meeting.  The  traveller  attended. 


The  speaker  of  the  occasion  was  a  noted  orator, 
a  major  of  the  army.  He  was  introduced  by  a 
distinguished  doctor,  who  said  something  longer 
than  the  speaker  thought  proper.  On  rising,  there¬ 
fore,  he  prefaced  his  remarks  by  saying  that  the 
doctor  reminded  him  of  a  certain  man  who  said 
the  introducer  had  taken  all  he  had  to  say,  and 
also  his  time.  “But  seriously,  the  purpose  which 
brings  me  to  you  concerns  you  in  a  peculiar  man¬ 
ner.  The  United  States  of  America,  our  country, 
has  thought  it  fit  to  declare  war  with  Germany. 
In  that  war,  all  her  noble  sons  should  be  engaged; 
and  the  sons  of  shady  hue,  along  with  those  of 
a  lighter  color,  are  called  upon  to  defend  home  and 
fireside,  church,  and  school,  cattle  and  horses.  It 
is  in  vain  that  one  of  us  should  say,  ‘This  is  not 
my  country.’  For  you  are  born  here,  bred  here, 
and  know  little  but  what  has  happened  here.  The 
white  man  says  in  vain  that  this  is  his  country  alone ; 


118 


Specters  Before  the  Eyes 


119 

it  is  my  country.  My  ancestors  were  brought  here 
without  any  request  on  their  part;  I  have  made 
myself  welcome  by  adopting  the  dress,  the  habits, 
and  books  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  neighbor,  and  I 
expect  to  help  him  rule  and  manage  this  country 
of  ours. 

My  ancestors  spoke  another  language  than  this, 
but  they  and  I  have  caught  up  with  him,  and  speak 
as  well  as  he.  In  the  arts,  in  buying,  and  in  selling, 
I  am  right  along  with  him;  for  I  know  how  to 
manage  a  ward,  to  sell  votes,  to  buy  votes,  or  to 
count  them.  When  he  sits  in  judgment,  I  sit  with 
him,  for  do  I  not  judge  whether  he  gives  me 
justice?  When  he  wins  a  battle  I  win  with  him; 
for  was  I  not  at  El  Caney?  On  board  ship,  I  am 
with  him;  for  I  cook  his  meals.  In  the  manage¬ 
ment  of  the  railroads,  I  am  with  him;  for  I  supply 
him  with  money,  paying  my  fare,  and  laboring 
with  him. 

My  ancestry  is  noble;  for  I  have  before  me  the 
great  Hannibal,  and  Crispus  Attucks,  and  am  blest 
with  colonels  as  my  examples  worthy  of  imitation. 

He  has  made  me  feel  at  home;  for  do  not  I  pay 
the  taxes  he  calls  for,  without  a  question,  or  any 
hope  of  office?  I  give  my  advice  freely  and  with¬ 
out  pay  in  the  newspapers,  while  he  charges  for 
every  line  he  writes.  My  example,  if  followed, 


120 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


would  make  this  nation  one  of  peace  without  fear,  \ 
and  honor  without  cowardice.  How  grateful 
should  he  be  then  to  me;  especially  as  I  am  willing 
not  only  to  claim  a  place  in  his  country,  to  fight  for 
it,  to  suffer  with  it,  but  also  to  claim  a  place  in 
his  affections.  Heaven  decreed  that  I  should  be 
here,  and  he  decreed  that  I  should  serve  him.  For 
these  services  he  pays  me  little,  and  I  give  him  all 
I  have — myself — my  house — my  life  on  the  high¬ 
way,  and  on  the  battlefield. 

He  distinguishes  me  from  every  other  race,  by 
making  special  provision  for  me  on  trains,  in 
churches,  and  places  of  public  amusement.  He 
hopes  by  these  methods  to  make  me  everlastingly 
to  remember  him,  to  serve  him  in  life,  and  remember 
his  attentions  in  death.” 

The  speaker  was  warmly  applauded  by  the  white 
portion  of  the  audience.  The  traveller  was  intro¬ 
duced,  and  told  that  the  orator  had  heard  of  him 
before;  and  the  race  men  crowded  around  him. 

All  the  money  needed  for  the  expenses  of  the 
orator,  and  more,  were  raised  there,  and  the  orator 
proceeded  on  his  way. 

Some  days  after,  there  arrived  a  man  who  gave 
the  following  to  the  union : 

A  certain  party  of  fish  lovers  was  pic-nicking  down 
stream,  and  left  the  lunch  they  carried  on  the  bank. 


\ 


Specters  Before  the  Eyes 


121 


On  returning,  the  lunch  was  gone.  They  saw 
a  man  and  his  wife  hoeing  in  a  field  near,  con¬ 
cluded  that  these  were  the  thieves,  and  shot  them 
both  dead.  These  were  old  persons  who  were 
killed. 

Proceeding  from  the  meeting  the  traveller  came 
to  a  store.  A  young  girl  of  about  18  years  came 
in.  She  was  asked  what  she  thought  of  her  glori¬ 
ous  freedom  so  eloquently  depicted  by  the  travelling 
major. 

“I  hear  it  is  prophesied,”  she  said,  “that  this 
country  must  have  a  king;  and  I  long  to  see  him, 
for  I  will  then  have  protection.” 

At  all  which  the  traveller  wondered.  Then  said 
he,  “Are  the  young  women  arousing  themselves 
at  last?” 

The  garrulous  audience,  and  the  communicative 
storekeeper  listened. 

“I  hear,”  said  he,  “that  butter  will  be  50  cents 
a  pound.  People  are  fretting  because  they  have  to 
pay  7  cents  for  a  bar  of  soap;  but  if  it  was  as  dear 
as  rice  it  would  cost  10  cents  a  bar.” 

“And  has  salary  or  money  increased  at  the  same 
rate?”  inquired  the  traveller. 

“No !  but  we  give  our  minister  a  good  salary,  and 
an  auto.” 

“What  of  the  Negro  preacher?”  asked  some  one. 


122 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


“Oh!  he  can  walk,  live  on  molasses,  and  plant 
cotton.” 

“That  reminds  me,”  said  the  traveller,  “of  an  in¬ 
stance  I  heard  of  in  the  far  south.  ‘A  storekeeper 
asked  a  preacher  what  he  was  doing  round  there.’  ” 

“I  preach  at  that  church!”  he  said,  pointing  to 
a  dilapidated  building  near  by. 

“Do  the  people  pay  you  well?”  asked  the  store¬ 
keeper. 

“Fairly  so,”  said  the  preacher. 

After  a  pause,  “Why  don’t  you  plant  cotton?” 
said  the  store  man. 

“You  keep  this  store?”  said  the  preacher. 

“Yes.” 

“Why  don’t  you  preach?”  asked  the  clergyman. 

The  storekeeper  did  not  answer.  Preaching  was 
regarded  in  those  parts  as  an  idle  pastime;  and 
when  a  man  left  off  being  a  carpenter  at  two  dol¬ 
lars  and  a  half  a  day,  or  a  blacksmith  at  maybe 
five  dollars  a  day,  to  become  a  Negro  preacher  at 
one  dollar  a  day  or  worse;  he  looked  idle  indeed. 
A  remedy  for  this  was  to  be  found  in  prayer,  the 
encouragement  of  the  sisters,  and  removing  to  a 
better  charge,  with  the  prospect  of  a  better  salary. 
For  while  all  but  the  preacher  dealt  in  temporal 
things  which  people  valued,  the  preacher,  also  a 
poor  man,  dealt  in  things  which  no  one  could  see, 


Specters  Before  the  Eyes 


123 


and  told  of  a  future  which  no  one  cared  about. 
The  city  preacher,  indeed,  might  get  more  money, 
a  better  house,  and  even  some  protection  in  case 
of  a  threatened  lynching.  He  might  even  be  called 
on  in  case  of  a  lynching,  to  give  his  opinion  on  the 
matter  in  a  public  newspaper.  He  might  even  be¬ 
come  a  public  speaker,  and  be  presented  with  a 
horse  and  buggy  by  the  ladies  whom  he  pleased. 
Nay  more;  he  might  become  a  landowner,  a  real 
estate  agent,  and  teach  public  school  at  fifty  to 
seventy-five  dollars  a  month.  But  with  all  this,  he 
was  but  a  Negro  preacher,  entitled  to  no  other 
consideration  but  a  lynching  at  any  time. 

The  most  valuable  thing  planted  was  cotton;  and 
the  most  valued  man  was  white.  Even  among  the 
Negroes,  in  the  darker  parts,  a  Negro  preacher  was 
said  to  be  an  idler,  and  a  college  education  a  sure 
sign  of  unfitness  for  the  gospel  ministry. 

And  yet  much  has  been  done.  A  great  step  has 
been  made  from  the  stage  at  which  the  self-appointed 
schoolmaster  sat  teaching  reading,  writing,  arith¬ 
metic  with  a  whip,  and  regarding  with  displeasure 
the  urchin  who  called  him  names.  The  school¬ 
master  in  question  was  named  Peter  Hutchins;  but 
the  boys  called  him  Peter  Hoghead.  One  day  a 
certain  boy  was  very  noisy  and  urgent  in  his  annoy¬ 
ing,  and  the  teacher  brought  the  matter  to  the 


124 


God’s  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


notice  of  his  pupils.  “I  want  to  teach  all  you  to 
write  a  letter,”  he  said. 

“Yes,  sah,”  said  the  pupils. 

“Wouldn’t  all  you  like  to  know  where  I  got  my 
larnin  from?”  he  continued. 

“Yes,  sah,”  answered  the  pupils. 

“I  hab  great  larnin,”  he  said  to  himself,  “I  got 
my  larnin  different  from  all  you.” 

“How  did  you  get  it,  sah?”  urged  a  boy  open- 
mouthed. 

“You  would  like  to  know?”  soliloquised  the  mas¬ 
ter.  “My  great-grandfather  lef’  it  gie  mi.” 

The  boys  wondered.  What  a  great  great-grand¬ 
father  they  thought. 

“The  other  day  I  was  passing  down  monkey 
gully,”  continued  the  master,  “and  Jim  Shute  ven¬ 
tured  to  call  me  Peter  Hoghead.  Whichin  my  name 
is  not  Peter  Hoghead,  but  Peter  Hemmings,  which 
I  obtained  when  I  was  made,  a  member  of  Christ, 
a  child  of  God,  and  an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.” 

The  boys  wondered. 

“I  will  now  shew  you,”  he  added,  “how  to  write 
a  letter.” 

“My  dear  Sar  or  Madam: 

“I  was  passing  the  other  day  when  you  called 
me  Peter  Hoghead.  Whichin  my  name  is  not 


Specters  Before  the  Eyes 


125 


Peter  Hoghead,  but  Peter  Hemmings  Hutchins. 
And  I  beg  to  tell  you  that  if  you  venture  that  again 
I  will  knock  every  teeth  down  you’  throat. 

“I  am,  my  dear  sar, 

“Peter  Hemmings  Hutchins.” 
“Don’t  you  think  that  was  a  good  letter?” 

“Yes,  sah!”  replied  the  boys  with  certainty. 

The  old  man  cut  his  pencil,  and  began  to  write 
some  copies  on  each  one’s  book  for  writing.  He 
had  really  a  very  neat  hand,  and  the  parents  were 
delighted  in  viewing  the  writing.  He  passed  for 
a  fine  disciplinarian ;  for  he  whipped  the  children  for 
every  mistake  in  arithmetic,  and  bore  with  them  for 
every  mistake  in  reading,  as  he  could  not  read  very 
well  himself,  regarded  grammar  and  geography  as 
useless  appendages  to  learning,  but  took  care  to 
learn  as  much  history  as  possible.  He  taught  algebra 
to  the  extent  of  his  ability,  fostering  a  knowledge 
of  the  reading  of  the  examples  in  Addition,  Sub¬ 
traction,  Multiplication,  and  Division. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


THE  OUTLOOK 

THE  presidents  of  the  United  States  will  be 
called  upon  by  the  leaders  of  the  race  to 
take  some  steps  to  defend  it. 

The  Congress,  “which  shall  have  power  to  devise 
legislation  for  the  enforcement  of  this  article,”  but 
which  has  been  a  silent  spectator  of  its  wrongs, 
will  at  last  be  compelled  to  take  the  case  up.  The 
ministry  of  the  gospel  which  kept  silence,  has,  in 
many  places,  called  the  colored  ministers  to  sit  with 
them  in  union  meetings.  Lawyers  have  ventured 
to  call  the  wife  of  a  certain  colored  man — Mistress, 
instead  of  saying  she  was  the  wife  of  John  Somers, 
or  some  other. 

Colored  citizens  have  been  accorded  the  right  to 
live  by  the  court  of  last  resort.  Politicians  have 
at  last  found  it  proper  to  consult  Negro  voters. 
Certain  officers  have,  at  last,  been  given  workmen 
of  the  race.  Equal  rights  is  demanded  before  the 
Jim  Crow  law.  Vessels  of  wrath  are  becoming 
vessels  of  honor  when  the  citizen  rights  of  the 
Negro  are  accorded  him.  A  speaker  from  the  uni¬ 
versity  addressed  an  audience  at  Shiloh  Church  last 

126 


The  Outlook 


127 


Sunday.  In  the  course  of  remarks  he  said,  “That 
the  Negro  was  no  coward,  he  would  fight.  He 
had  fought  on  the  streets  when  called  on  just  to 
shew  that  he  could  fight.  The  English,  as  a  nation, 
looked  haughty  and  cold;  but  they  gave  every  man 
a  square  deal.  The  Negro  would  surely  get  justice 
under  the  British  flag.  When  the  war  broke  out 
every  able-bodied  Algerine  jumped  to  arms  to  save 
France,  because  that  country  treated  every  man 
alike.  There  had  been  no  cutting  off  of  hands  and 
feet,  or  insult  to  color. 

“These  ideas  of  fair  play  in  those  two  countries 
led  to  the  most  intense  love  of  country.  The  Negro 
would  fight  as  a  duty,  and  never  rebel.” 

The  only  countries  in  which  these  cases  of  abso¬ 
lute  fair  play  occur,  have  no  problem  of  race. 
Mexico,  Canada,  and  Central  America  are  near  to 
the  United  States;  yet  there  is  no  Negro  problem 
there.  In  South  America  a  mulatto  represented  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Brazil  when  it  was  estab¬ 
lished.  And  as  fair  play  gets  into  the  minds  of 
men,  and  the  Negro  shews  his  fitness,  a  larger 
amount  of  justice  will  be  accorded  him.  For  it  may 
happen  yet  that  France  and  England  will  need 
his  services.  No  careful  reader  of  Ezekiel’s 
prophecy  or  of  Rev.  xiv,  can  avoid  the  conclusion 
that  this  war  is  to  be  world  wide,  to  be  finished 


128 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


in  Palestine,  where  the  nation  called  Rosh,  or  Me- 
shech  and  Tubal  is  to  go  to  take  a  spoil,  and  to  take 
a  prey,  until  the  Almighty  causes  the  bodies  of  the 
wounded  to  be  more  than  enough  food  for  the  fowls 
of  heaven.  In  Ezekiel  xxxviii.  i  to  6,  we  have  the 
very  names  of  Japheth’s  descendants  settling  north 
of  and  about  the  Black  Sea,  clothed  with  all  sorts 
of  armour,  even  a  very  great  company,  the  house 
of  Togarmah  and  all  his  company  of  the  north 
quarters.  The  land  of  Palestine  is  to  be  rescued 
from  the  many  nations,  that  have  oppressed  it,  and 
these  are  to  be  attacked  by  Gomer  and  all  his 
bands,  who  came  to  take  a  spoil  and  to  take  a 
prey.  The  merchants  of  Tarshish,  Sheba,  and 
Dedan,  are  to  attack  them;  but  God  will  be  sancti¬ 
fied  on  them,  for  they  shall  be  utterly  overthrown. 
In  this  terrible  fighting  the  Negro  will  take  part. 
And  he  will  get  justice  here,  too.  The  earnest 
efforts  to  teach  him  augurs  improvement  even  if 
it  is  only  to  save  his  white  “neighbor.”  Of  the 
schools  in  which  he  is  taught,  he  is  most  indebted 
to  the  private  schools.  The  teachers  of  the  best 
quality  come  from  them.  In  Mr.  Claxton’s  report 
sent  here  the  private  school  is  recommended  for 
doing  training,  and  the  elementary  schools’  neces¬ 
sities  are  accentuated.  See  Report  for  August, 
1917,  on  Negro  Schools.  The  men  who  founded 


The  Outlook 


129 


the  great  public  schools  in  England — Eton,  Win¬ 
chester,  The  Charterhouse,  and  others,  did  more  for 
the  education  of  the  middle  classes — and,  therefore, 
for  those  above  and  below  them  in  England  than 
can  be  told.  The  men  who  founded  Negro  schools, 
such  as,  Shaw,  Lincoln,  Biddle,  Atlanta  University, 
Knoxville  College,  and  a  host,  of  others,  saved  the 
Negro  from  contempt,  and  rendered  the  nation  a 
service.  But  it  is  these  men,  trained  in  just  such 
schools,  that  gave  reason  for  hope  that  all  may  be 
trained  and  many  may  act  as  leaders.  For  the  rail¬ 
road  hand  will  make  an  excellent  soldier  in  case 
of  necessity,  while  the  scholar  will  submit  at  dis¬ 
cretion.  The  faster  they  are  educated,  the  better 
for  the  “neighbors.” 

Since  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  these 
United  States  that  segregation  is  illegal,  the  Negro 
will  build  and  try  to  improve.  He  is  building 
very  rapidly  in  southern  towns,  such  as  Knoxville 
and  Memphis.  His  efforts  in  the  far  south  are 
not  confined  to  farming,  but  he  extends  those  efforts 
to  millinery  and  other  useful  trades  in  demand.  So 
long  as  he  provides  what  is  wanted,  he  will  prosper. 
But  there  is  another  view.  A  college  education 
is  needed  for  any  set  of  people;  more  so  for  the 
Negro.  This  has  been  provided  by  almost  every 
denomination ;  and  therefore  these  denominations 


130 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


should  be  thanked  by  the  race.  For  technics  in 
industrial  schools  do  not  teach  to  honor  and  fear 
God,  nor  to  conduct  oneself  properly,  but  rather 
to  be  conceited  about  what  one  knows.  On  this 
account  much  will  be  done  to  get  improved  moral 
leadership. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


THE  CHURCH 


LTHO’  many  churches  are  manned  by 


XjL  colored  ministers,  and  the  white  denomina¬ 
tions  are  fairly  represented,  yet  there  are  very  many 
colored  people  who  never  touch  a  church  door, 
and  who  acknowledge  no  God.  The  promise  made 
60  years  ago  by  the  slaves,  that  if  freed  they  would 
serve  God,  has  not  been  kept  much.  A  woman  whose 
congregation  greatly  admired  their  last  pastor  was 
asked  whether  it  was  not  that  they  went  to  church 
to  please  the  pastor,  because  the  pastor  pleased 
them.  She  said,  “Yes!”  I  said  then,  “You  do  not 
go  to  serve  Jesus  Christ,  but  to  please  yourself 
and  the  pastor.”  She  answered,  “Yes.” 

b  rom  this  I  conclude  that  God  has  dealt  very 
harshly  with  the  Negroes,  because  they  have  not 
sought  him. 

“First  a  Methodist,  then  a  Christian,”  said  a 
sister  to  me. 

“I  love  Methodism.” 

“I  do  not  know  whether  I  will  be  a  Methodist 
or  a  Catholic,”  declared  another;  “and  tho’  it  may 
seem  at  first  that  the  two  churches  are  not  alike, 
they  will  appear,  on  close  examination,  to  be  very 


132 


God’s  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


similar.  But  those  churches  that  tend  most  to  make 
people  think  are  the  least  loved  by  Negroes.  The 
excitement,  the  simplicity  of  some  churches,  appeal 
to  the  imagination  of  the  many.  Never  in  history 
have  we  a  great  number  of  noted  philosophers  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  the  shiftless.  Never 
have  we  found  the  thinking  ones  loved  by  the  un¬ 
thinking  for  long.  Accordingly,  the  mass  of  colored 
people  go  to  school  because  other  reasons  than  love 
to  Christ  move  them.  The  knowledge  of  the  Bible 
is  most  superficial.  There  is  a  very  well  known  text 
however, — “Repent  and  be  baptized  and  wash  away 
your  sins,”  which  is  very  popular.  We  need  not 
be  surprised,  therefore,  to  learn  that  a  sister  said 
that  she  saw  her  sins  going  down  the  river  during 
her  baptism.  And  here  the  imperfect  knowledge 
of  the  Negroes  may  be  compared  with  the  imperfect 
knowledge  of  the  Jews  under  Ezra. 

When  that  people  returned  from  captivity  in  515 
B.  C.,  Ezra,  the  prophet,  had  to  erect  a  pulpit  and 
teach  the  law  to  them.  On  the  arrival  of  Nehemiah 
the  idolatrous  wives  had  to  be  forcibly  removed. 

Afterwards  we  find  two  high  priests  exercising 
the  sacred  functions.  Similarly  we  find  a  con¬ 
tinual  exhibition  of  ignorance  of  the  moral  law, 
and  splits  in  churches.  And  even  as  often  as  a 
new  form  of  religion  springs  up  among  the  whites, 


The  Church 


133 


it  finds  adherents  among  the  Negroes.  Those  forms 
of  religion  which  have  the  more  numerous  errors, 
or  the  greatest  amount  of  self-conceit  are  more 
loudly  preached.  I  heard  a  man  trying  to  prove, 
on  the  street,  to  a  mixed  audience,  that  Saturday 
was  not  Sunday,  but  that  the  apostles  had  com¬ 
manded  to  keep  the  law.  He  asserted,  further, 
that  the  names  of  the  days  of  the  week  commonly 
used  were  given  them  by  Jesus.  Yet  we  know  that 
the  Anglo-Saxons  from  whom  we  get  the  names 
of  our  days  were  discovered  after  Christ  ascended. 

But  the  most  remarkable  illustration  of  God’s 
dealings  with  the  Negro  in  America  is  that  in  some 
places  the  Negro  is  honored,  while  in  others,  he  is 
cursed  daily.  In  spite  of  the  condition,  however, 
he  has  this  advantage:  he  can  read,  teach,  and  preach 
in  his  own  church  house,  and  learn  how  the  nations 
are  doing. 

If  in  course  of  time  he  shall  succeed  in  getting 
God’s  blessing  upon  him  to  the  extent  that  he  can 
get  justice,  he  has  native  ability  to  go  on  and  be¬ 
come  a  power.  His  captivity  is  not  yet  as  long  as 
that  of  the  Jews.  A  great  deal  used  to  be  said 
of  the  return  of  the  Jews  in  what  was  called  the 
Zionist  movement.  A  good  deal  may  be  said  for 
the  Negro  in  what  may  be  called  Negro  Emancipa¬ 
tion.  My  hope  is  the  sinking  of  all  national  and 


134 


God's  Dealings  with  the  Negro 


racial  enmities,  and  the  blending  of  all  in  one, 
when  peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men  will  be 
sung. 

To  conclude:  there  are  only  two  church  denomi¬ 
nations  that  have  kept  the  idea  that  “God  hath 
made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell 
on  all  the  face  of  the  earth.”  Every  other  is  divided 
on  the  Negro  question.  But  Jesus  prayed  that 
his  disciples  may  be  one,  even  as  he  and  the  Father 
were  one.  Divisions,  then,  come  of  debate  and 
strife.  All  debate  and  strife  are  caused  by  preju¬ 
dice.  Prejudice  is  wrong  from  the  very  meaning 
of  the  word,  or  pre-judging — a  thing  not  allowed 
in  a  law  court.  How  unjust,  then,  must  it  be  out¬ 
side  of  it?  But  this  is  so  strong!  No  sooner  is 
a  circumstance  related  to  any  one  than  the  question 
is  asked — “Is  he  white  or  colored?”  The  answer 
decides  the  measure  of  justice  or  punishment  to 
be  meted  out. 

It  is  the  clear  business  of  the  great  body  of 
Christians  to  so  talk,  and  work,  and  pray  as  to 
cause  the  kingdoms  of  sin  and  injustice  to  become 
the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord.  For  they  cannot  hope 
to  be  justified  by  unjustly  killing  a  sparrow;  much 
less  by  destroying  their  fellow  men.  Nor  is  it  just 
to  make  a  Negro  responsible  as  a  white  man  and 
then  punish  him  because  he  is  a  Negro. 


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